"You stay for a while, and we'll talk." Zhao Hui waved his hand and said with a smile, "We are friends who have been beaten out for decades, don't pretend to be a ghost in front of me." Why do you look like you have something on your mind, a little worried? Are you still worried about the lack of water in the river? "I'm also worried about this, this place is different from our Central Plains, you look at this Grandma River, the water here is watery, and the beach will dry up if it flows down for seventy miles." Say no water, no water. Hu Fugui also smiled, "Junmen is a cold person and never chats, and I'm a little strange." With that, he sat down.

Zhao Hui said that the "friendship that came out" was twenty years ago. At that time, Zhaohui was already a deputy general, Hu Fugui was just a prison cellkeeper, and Zhaohui suffered a lawsuit by mistake, and was assigned to Shuntian Mansion to be detained, and was beaten by Hu Fugui into a coma for several days and nights. After Zhaohui recovered, he was specially transferred to the camp, ready to kill and vent, but listened to someone's advice and forgave him. In the past few decades, Hu Fugui has become the shadow of Zhaohui, fighting and killing in the east and west, Zhaohui will transfer him to do anything, and never leave the saddle before and after the horse. In terms of name, he is a boss and a boss, and he is a brother in love. At this moment, they sat opposite each other, mentioning their previous feelings, and each of them had a warm comfort in their hearts.

"This battle is probably the most dangerous of my life." Zhaohui was silent for a while, and said with a sigh, "Erut Hui has the support of Rakshasa in the north, and Persia in the west. In terms of the overall pattern, our three-way army surrounded Huo Jizhan and was held hostage by the two countries. I played cautiously and also for this. And you can only win, not lose. As he spoke, his hands clenched together. Hu Fugui moved uneasily and said with a smile: "That's." The imperial court has already exhausted all its strength. Now the finances are good on the surface, but the expenses are also ten times more than those of the previous dynasty, and the matter of fighting a war does not dare to be considered according to the military expenses calculated by the military department, a single Jinchuan, a military department and a household department, and the governors of various provinces have another statement, this is 30 million, that is 20 million, and now the military aircraft are all calculated, a total of 70 million! God, there are only 70,000 people in Jinchuan! How much do we make? I'm afraid more! This place is broken, and if you want to start again, it's harder than climbing to the sky! He paused for a moment, and then said, "However, with a style of play like Fang Cai, we can defeat the surnamed Huo at best, what else can he do if he flees to a foreign country?" Zhao Hui didn't say a word, and gently pushed a file along the tabletop. Hu Fugui quickly glanced at Zhaohui, and when he took it out to see, it was Qianlong's secret message from Ah Gui from the Military Aircraft Department on Zhaohui's invitation to An:

After reading Ah Gui, he quickly turned to Zhaohui Xingying: It seems that this false word is a case, please break it, I am safe, and the more I read, the more I feel uneasy! Do you want to be peaceful, but you don't know what my uneasiness is? When I left Beijing, I and Wang'er performed in the spring, but this summer is about to pass, and Nell is still patrolling the Ama River! The raising of the banner consumes half of the world's strength, and the Tianli Society of Huguang, the Elder Brothers of Sichuan and Hunan Sects, and the Wuji White Lotus of Fujian and Zhejiang are thinking about stupidity, but they are not only unable to solve the worries of the monarch's father, but the labor and teachers' salaries are more involved in internal affairs, which is still the concern of Shang Zeng. Can you be at peace with yourself at midnight? With autumn and July as the limit, you can't go down to the fort of the golden rooster, I am not guilty, can you not be guilty? I don't know the importance of etiquette, but the rules of the court and the people's livelihood are expected, why use a piece of paper every day to blaspheme the case!

The word "Qin this" is scribbled and vigorous, and the blood-red cinnabar looks bright and dazzling. Attached to the head of Ah Gui's letter, sprinkled, there are more than 2,000 words, Hu Fugui looked at it, but did not accuse, just explained the reason why the emperor was in a hurry to march, for example, it was detailed, and the generals did not guess much, and finally wrote:

The worry of the monarch is the humiliation of my generation. However, my brother's concerns in the previous letter are also deeply reasonable, and it is a chance to win if you don't hurry up and calmly bend the plan. Wishing for merit and greed is not the way to be loyal to the king, and a slight fall will lead to the humiliation of the king, rather than be afraid! The brother knew the difficulty of using the army, and the brother was worried about the difficulty of transporting the grain route, and the brother had ordered the general of Xi'an to add another 10,000 horses to maintain. Brother don't worry about pointing west, don't go back to the east. This Zhu batch was sent by the emperor to read it, and this letter was also read by the emperor, so that the brother knew what the court was looking forward to.

He thought about it while looking at it, tasted it repeatedly, and said: "According to Gui Zhongtang's letter, it is not the same as the emperor!" ”

"It's a meaning, a red face and a white face just sing the same play." Zhaohui said. Ah Gui was his boss before he made his career in Gubeikou, he knew about military affairs, and he knew how to fight, Qianlong and Shengzu were comparable everywhere, but he did not lead troops to fight on the ground, and he had to give orders in the ninth honor, and it was really thanks to Ah Gui who was circling at both of them. This kind of thing, if it is placed on the shoulders of He Shen Yu Minzhong, only those who face the strict words to supervise the battle, and let it go if they win or lose. These layers thought about it, but they were able to talk to Hailancha behind their backs, and Hu Fugui was not yet on this point, so he changed his tone and said: "We are not afraid of the heavens and the earth when we lead the troops to fight, and we are not afraid of death, but we are afraid that the civil officials will fight in front of them and spoil them in their hearts." That's not what I want to tell you. If Heishuihe loses the first battle, it is best to die in battle, and if I don't die in battle, I will also commit suicide and die for my country. ”

A chill suddenly hit Hu Fugui's heart, the barren beach grass and trees outside were low in the sun, and the wind blowing in was warm, Hu Fugui was actually trembling, his face was a little pale, and he opened his mouth wide to look at Zhaohui in a daze.

"If you lose your teacher and humiliate the country, you will die if you flee back." Zhaohui smiled to himself, "Like Zhang Guangsi, he won the battle in his life, but he still killed." I can only blame myself for this kind of thing, and I can't count on the court's forgiveness...... You have to live, drag my bones back and bury them, and pull them down. That's what I ask you to do. As for the son, it is his life to die in battle, and if he wants to live, you should protect him. With that, he stood up and shook it.

He spoke very calmly, but Hu Fugui was stunned by his composure. Even the salute forgot to reply, and waved his hand in a panic: "Dajunmen, how can you say this?" How so? ”

"Just now, Ma Guangzu Liao Huaqing is discussing one of us, but it is actually a 'slow progress' strategy." Zhaohui said, "It's really not dangerous. But what the emperor wants is to 'rush forward', and it is impossible to conquer Jinji Fort in July. He stood up, his grown body swaying and pacing in the shadow of the remnant sun, as if talking to himself and Hu Fugui, "There is also a big bad case of slow advance, the enemy saw that the momentum was not good, and fled." As far as the emperor's will is concerned, if I think about it, I have exhausted half of the world's financial resources, so an ending, and the second half of my life is also my own shame and humiliation. Leaving the enemy outside the borders, there are still hundreds of thousands of troops deployed here every year, but in fact, the battle is lost, and the people are also lost. So—" he paused and said in an accentuated tone, "after crossing the Black Stone Gully and entering the Heishui River Valley, you can't slow down any further. You selected 5,000 strong soldiers for me from the army, I took a raid on Jinji Fort, glued Huo Jizhan, he attacked me and retreated, he went and I chased, we attacked on the left and right wings, and Hailancha reinforced from the west road. Synthesize the momentum of encirclement and suppression. After my 5,000 people finished fighting, 200,000 troops pressed over on all sides, and Huo Jizhan couldn't escape from him! This plan was thought about in Dihua, and it was also discussed with Hailancha. He thought it was too dangerous, so he just read the oracle, and I decided to fight like this! ”

"Zhaojun Gate!" Hu Fugui shouted, "If this can't be done, it must be like this, I'll attack!" ”

"That's the only way to fight." Zhao Hui said, "You can't take these five thousand outlaw divisions." I am confident that I have prestige in the army and can calm the morale of the army. Determination and faith are paramount here. Before July, he must meet Huo Jizhan to fight Jinji Fort. You act according to my orders, and if you win, you can say anything, and if you miss, that is, 5,000 people will take my life. Don't forget my entrustment. ”

Hu Fugui had already stood up, he stood in front of the desk in shock, took a step forward, seemed to want to say something, looked at Zhaohui's calm and resolute demeanor, and said in a hoarse voice: "Who can say the war?" Ten percent chance of winning before fighting, women holding children also dare, the military master is open, and I am also open! ”

In this way, a bold and huge military plan was unfolded. Five days later, in the morning, the 50,000-strong army of the Amahe camp set out. The surging marching army assembled and marched, and it was convenient to be on this vast grassland and desert, and the 20th column marched in unison, with Ma Guangzu leading 10,000 people to open the road in front, and Liao Hua in the back to contain after being cleared. All the camels and horses carrying grain were in parallel with the supply battalion of the headquarters. Say to rest on the spot, three stones set up a pot to boil water to make rice, all over the field are soldiers, say "go", the painting horn is a song of thousands of ants gathered, the white background and black side of the "soldier" written on the gown of the gown sticking to the gown, riding on the horse no matter forward or backward, are the surging forward gown, dense woods like knives and guns, together with the transport of heavy vehicles and horses, the actual march of more than 100,000 people, the team pulled out more than 20 miles, like a black tide to the west, where it passed, people trampled on horses and trampled on dust like haze like fog, spurs and sabers collided into a confusion. The grassland has long been out of population because of the continuous war, the village ruins are deserted, countless wild donkeys and wild horses, yellow sheep, antelope, grass and deer actually nest in it, startled, panicked and fled in groups, causing the sergeants in the team to shout excitedly, sandwiched by the intermittent military songs and "the, Lao Tzu will die here" of the self-composed slang song one after another, a piece of hustle and bustle, the momentum is extremely vast and magnificent...... Zhao Hui is already the general of Jianya Kaifu, but it is also the first time that such a group field march is made. Although I have already entrusted the future, I can't be careless. At this moment, riding steadily on the mount, looking around, there are tiger warriors on the left and right, singing and laughing and marching noisily, everyone is a look of indifference who is full and does not want to go home - the so-called "group courage" is - the original little vigilance and timidity turned into nothing, and the pride of "big killing" suddenly rose.

Although this method of marching is a little slower, it is indeed safe and secure, Zhaozhang Qun led a thousand cavalry, in fact, it was a detective and sweeping the road and hitting the front station, several encounters with Huo Jizhan's cavalry were all retreating at the touch of a button, and the two sides retreated after firing a few shots with bird guns. Huo Jizhan seemed to be quite jealous of Zhaohui's hand, and sometimes tens of thousands of cavalry copied over, as if they wanted to cut off Zhang Qun's back road, and as soon as the horn was blown, he immediately withdrew his troops and galloped away with a whistle. For twenty days in a row, there were only a few skirmishes, a soldier's nose was wounded, and a horse's leg was only hung with flowers, and it had already entered the valley of the Doll River. One more stop forward, the Heishui River is already in front, and it is only 300 miles away from Jinji Fort.

After seeing it here with his own eyes, Zhaohui knew that "the lack of water in the Heishui River" was not nonsense. The terrain here is very strange, the Heishui River flows from west to east and turns into a desert in the north, the Doll River comes from the west, almost with the Heishui River only separated by a sand dune beach, but flows to the south, the two rivers flow down from the snow-capped mountains in parallel, there is no confluence for hundreds of miles, the south is a high port, all are sand dunes, the devil is strange and strange, there are like monsters, a group of "lions and tigers" squat still, there are like houses, "temple towers", "tombs" are numerous, and so on, the middle ditch is connected vertically and horizontally, the overpass and the earth hole are connected, and the cool Xiao Castle Street, "the city." "Outside, there are one after another imperial tomb-like sand dunes. The Doll River is just a trickle, flowing under the "city" in a shallow and winding way, with some places breaking the stream, and some places being a little shallow and only ankle-free. The Heishui River is wide, flowing to the northwest, but what flows in the river is not water, it is black and sticky oil, let alone drinking, and it is useless to smell it. After another day, the Doll River has been completely cut off, even the river channel has been completely annihilated by the sand, and the Heishui River has become intermittent, becoming an oil anchor for large and small beaches, Wang is dead and alive in the beach, and there are fewer and fewer birds in the sky, and the underground scenery is becoming more and more desolate. On the bank of the "Heishui River" in Zhuma, looking at the desert in the north and the end of the sky, looking at the high hills and low hills in the south, the red willows, poplars, prickly pears, cacti are reckless, there are white grass and yellow grass mixed in the meantime, the wind is soaring, the sand flies and the stones are walking, the beasts are fighting, the mist is misty, the sky is gloomy, as if in the ghost domain. The scene was horrific - there was no grass, no water, just a "magic city" and the vast Gobi, and this was the planned camp.

The troops were stationed, and it was already dusk, but fortunately the last journey only went fifty miles, and there was no strong wind, and they also encountered a low-lying green space, and there was a pond of twenty acres in the middle. The first thing Zhao Hui did when he got off the horse was to order "to take care of the water source, and to beat people and horses back to the barracks with skins to drink, and to cut off those who went into the water to bathe, and to punish those who and pee by the pond with eighty military sticks." The Chinese army with Zhaohui's general command banner and the guards directly ordered the bullet pressure, and it was easy to calm down. He rode his own horse and took two of his own soldiers out to inspect, one to calm the army, and the other to observe the terrain, and when he returned to the middle camp, it was already dark. As soon as he sat down, Hu Fugui had already come in with Ma Guangzu Liao Huaqing, and when he saw the soldiers lighting candles, Hu Fugui shouted: "What a fucking stupid!" A handful of hay is a lamp with oil on the riverside, and the oil is burned for cooking in the barracks, and you still want to light a lamp? So saying, the three of them had already entered the big tent. Without waiting for them to sit down, Zhaohui asked, "How is it going down?" ”

"I was so tired that I lay down as soon as I got to the ground." Liao Hua spat and said, "I'm stunned when I see this ghost place, let alone being a soldier." Ma Guangzu said: "It's not that I'm tired, I'm scared." Fuck no wonder, who's ever seen this? There is no water in the river, it is all stinky oil! I heard that the area was called the Devil's City, and during the day, I also followed up the underworld, and it looked similar to the streets of the county, and there was no man-made one. One of the soldiers said to me that he was mad when he looked at those things, and his legs and stomach were weak......"

"I also went out to see, and the morale is not good!" Zhaohui said, "Wait and see, Zhaozhangqun is back, there must be a good place ahead, so let's go one more stop." If there were no water weeds, the camp would be here. Or the word camp horns echo. We live on this pool, and we can't get it dirty. Tell the soldier that there is water, food, knives and guns, and he is afraid of a dick and ashes? I say the number one thing is morale. How? He looked at the three of them with a smile, "First, all drills, patrols, and sentry sentry sentry should be as usual; The battalions could send men to hunt and get fresh meat for the soldiers, and the law should be enforced more strictly than in the old battalions. The second is to activate the mood of the people, and take the soldiers who can sing into battalions to rehearse and sing, except for bitter dramas [1]

, everything can be done, no gambling is allowed, you can invite some poor-mouthed soldiers to gather, tell jokes and tell stories, veterans who have fought in the war talk about their past war experience, wrestling and reckless sand fights, so that it is good not to be vigilant and not hurt people. We also have to compete in singing military songs, telling the soldiers that the triumphant song is the imperial system, and when singing, all spirits help each other, and the military songs we make up ourselves are also inviolable to all evils - singing can ward off evil spirits, and everyone knows it. Otherwise, why do people who walk the cemetery at night hum songs? ”

When he said this, even the Goshkhas, who were guarding inside and outside the tent gate, laughed. Zhaohui was still serious, waved his hand and said: "In short, if you are full of food and sleep, you must strengthen your vigilance, Hailancha said well, you can't let the soldiers be idle, keep looking for things to do, keep having fun - you can allocate tens of thousands of funds, sing songs and jokes and be rewarded according to military merits." You can also think of some way, we are in a difficult situation, and we must be willing to spend money to let the family die. "Hu Fugui and the three of them have been with him for many years, and it is the first time they have listened to his set of orders, and they think about it, and there is no place that is not the key to leading troops. Ma Guangzu couldn't help but smile and sighed: "I thought you would only give orders with a straight face and lead people to rush into battle, which is really impressive, and I really admire it." Liao Huaqing also smiled and said, "This method is successful!" The morale of the soldiers is stirred, and they are not afraid of anything, so they will let the commanders of each battalion follow the orders tonight. I don't think I need to say more, just tell the original words of Zhaojunmen. ”

"This is not a place of long-term war, and the grain route is too far to continue." Zhao Hui said, and when he looked up and saw Zhao Zhangqun dragging his steps in, he was smiling, put on a straight face, and said sharply, "Look at your bear-like appearance!" Did you lose the battle? Lao Tzu is not dead, are you crying and mourning? Cheer me up! - Aren't there any aquatic plants ahead? Zhaohui Xunren never allowed anyone to intervene, but this is his son, and he has just given the order of "drum up", seeing that Zhaozhangqun's face is haggard and sweaty, and he is a little tired and unable to stand, he feels that Zhaohui is a little excessive, Ma Guangzu said: "The order you have given has been rewarded and punished!" He ran and fought back and forth, ten times more tired than us, why did he treat him like this? Come on, Major General, wipe your sweat and drink your saliva. As he spoke, he handed the bowl in one hand and the towel in the other.

Zhaozhangqun glanced at his father timidly, didn't dare to take the towel, only took the bowl and took a sip, wiped the sweat with his sleeve and said: "Today, I went back to the camp to fight, and my son suffered a loss, and Ma was too thirsty to run, so he knocked down seventeen horses. But the road was discovered, and there was a desert thirty miles north of here, and occasionally there were small ponds, and there were no springs, so it was not forbidden at all. The Heishui River, a plateau further west, is a desert, with no water or grass, and no troops can be stationed. As he spoke, he handed over the map with both hands and pointed to the road, "This map can't be used at all." There is no such thing as the city marked on the head. This road, as well as the river channel upstream of the Doll River in the painting...... I can't find any. ”

Zhao Hui just wrinkled his eyebrows and pondered, the road was buried and deserted by the wind and sand, and there was no trace of the river and the city marked "Kecheng", which was incredible. The army walked up the river, could it be that the riverbed was rerouted? Or is it the wrong thing to start with? I couldn't understand it for a while, but I just looked at the map again and again, and asked, "You said that there are aquatic plants thirty miles to the north, have you gone to see them?" ”

"Go." Zhaozhang Qun took a breath and said, "There is not much water and grass is not prosperous, but it is better than here." There were Huo Jizhan's soldiers stationed there, and there were not many people, so as soon as we showed up, we surrounded us from all directions. My 1,000 horses had already run more than 400 miles in the desert, and the people were too sleepy to fight, so they quickly retreated. "Okay, you can rest." Zhaohui glanced at his son warmly, "The Chinese army has cooked food for us, so let's eat enough." He turned his face and smiled, "I just said hunting, it seems that hunting is going to be banned, and I can only catch what to eat in the area of Doll River." I thought about it, and we didn't take the wrong way, but I could only say that the map was inaccurate. It seems that Huo Jizhan knows everything about us, let us enter the Heishui River, squeeze us in the desert and not move, cut off our food when the snow closes the road, and then he eats and drinks enough to carry a knife to kill. Even this pond tempted us to station—you see if he is so good at it! ”

That is to say, an army of 70,000 and 30,000 heavy soldiers have been trapped in a desperate situation, trapped on the beach and hungry, and killed lightly and skillfully in winter. When the three of them heard this, their hearts sank suddenly. Ma Guangzu said: "We can't fight out in this sand nest, set up a village on the grassland, and the army can bring up a month's grain, and then we can start to fight Jinji Fort." Zhaojunmen, you can't lead 5,000 people to sweep the strategy, it's too difficult for us to respond here, and we can't deal with it. Liao Huaqing said: "I think our army is conducive to quick battles. He wanted us to squat in a pit in the sand. We will prepare ten days' worth of food, first pretend to be a grandson, and the whole army will fight out as soon as the grain is ready! Hu Fugui smiled: "Huo Jizhan was timid and scared away." Be bold, one end is going around and the other is going east, and the Navy Gate can't be reinforced, so we have to call someone a pot of stew. ”

"** is saying, you can't be brute." Zhao Hui pondered, had made up his mind, clasped the tea bowl in one hand, and said undoubtedly, "But it is true that you can't consume Maodong here." The original style of play should be slightly changed. The 1,000 cavalry of Zhaozhangqun will set off tomorrow, no longer exploring the road, and will go straight to the northwest to approach Jinji Fort. I took five thousand horsemen ten miles from him and marched afterward. Ma Guangzu took 10,000 people ten miles behind me, then Liao Huaqing 15,000 people, and then Hu Fugui, all ten miles in turn. There is no dangerous pass here, and it will be hit in half an hour for ten miles, and it is very good to deal with it. The rest of the people in the old camp were only on guard and guarding the grain route, and a thousand firearms were enough. The 1,000 muskets that Russia sent to Huo Jizhan were all detained by Jidu. Although he has a lot of cavalry, there are only more than 200 firearms - if he fights out, even if he can't capture Jinji Fort, he can occupy a place with water on the grassland and gain a firm foothold, and Hailancha will be overpowered! Hu Fugui said worriedly: "This is the way to go, and the Navy Gate Jidu doesn't know that the plan has changed, and it is difficult to pass on the military report!" ”

Zhaohui stood up, clenched his fist tightly on the table with one hand, and said: "Hailancha is above me with soldiers, and the spiritual motive changes are ten times stronger than me, and he is staring at Jinji Fort every day, and he won't know that we are making such a big move." We are the main attacker, and we are cut off in southern Xinjiang, we can't do everything before we do it, don't expect others, I think in my heart, even the strength of my army will also wipe it down, this is the man! As he spoke, he shouted loudly, "Eat—what about Zhaozhang Qun?" Come and see me! ”

……

Almost half a quarter to the ugly, Zhaozhangqun's 1,000 cavalry like a black snake out of the hole, through the Gobi Desert for thirty miles into the grassland, the horses are newly replaced, all of them have picked the horse bells, silently drilled out of the desert, the sky is still dark like a clay basin. Immediately after that, less than half an hour, Zhaohui's 5,000 people flocked out with a full meal of war food...... Such an echelon is ten miles apart, like a sharp knife in front, and like a swarm of wasps out of the nest, pouring into the big meadow, the momentum looks very huge, like a rolling iron stream pointing straight to the north.

The first four days were surprisingly calm, and the army met little real resistance. Huo Jizhan also seemed to be a little unexpected, he was blinded by Zhaohui's bold sudden action, and all the cavalry sent out were small cavalry teams of one or two hundred people. There are more than 20 fires a day, and only seven or eight times a day. For such an army, it is like tickling. The enemy acted like this, Zhaohui was naturally a hundred times more vigilant, and ordered the follow-up grain to be transmitted upwards while walking, Zhang Qun each rode thirty catties of grain, Zhaohui's five thousand people each prepared twenty catties, and the forward troops could hunt, as long as there was meat to eat, not a grain of grain was allowed to be moved. By the sixth day, it had penetrated more than 200 miles behind enemy lines. At noon, the army marched to the bank of the Lele River, but saw that the long grass covered the short trees, the river was ten zhang wide, the shallow and secluded grassland went eastward, the grass was deep and the water was prosperous, and the scenery was very different, which was a good place to set up camp. Zhaohui couldn't help but be overjoyed, and immediately ordered to bury a pot on the south bank of the river to make rice, eat and drink enough to camp on the spot - if you stabilize here, you can slowly move the old camp of the Heishui Camp over and calmly attack Jinji Fort. Unexpectedly, before the water boiled, more than a dozen horsemen galloped from afar on the embankment, like a whirlwind, until Zhaohui dismounted in front of him, but it was Zhang Qun who arrived. Everyone and horses were sweating profusely, and Zhang Qun lost his disappearance before he saw the ceremony, pointing to the west with a horse whip and panting: "Dad, Dad!" Hit up, the enemy comes up! ”

"What's the panic?" Zhaohui scolded him, but also to embolden himself, he had long known that there would be such a thing, but when the matter came, he still couldn't be sure in his heart, because he asked, "How many people are there, and from which direction?" ”

"There are a lot of people, all of them are cavalry, there are 10,000 in the west, 15,000 in the north, and the wall is pressed over!"

"It's all cavalry?"

"Both. It's only about five miles away! ”

"Where's your soldier!"

"There is no fire yet. I have 500 muskets of birds, and I will fight and retreat! ”

At this moment, the generals of the Chinese army all knew that the enemy was so big, they all threw away the water bowl in their hands, and ended the armor, belt, shoes, socks, leggings and prepared to fight, and the atmosphere became extremely tense in an instant. Hearing the faint sound of gunfire like a cannon battle in the distance, a few recruits who had not been through the battle formation were frightened and held their bowls in a daze. Zhao Huiqiang calmed his pounding heart, calmly got on his horse, looked west with a telescope, and in the dazzling sun shadow, he saw a dark and heavy man and horse pressing the ground, and the northwest was the same, all of them were swords, shadows, swords, trees, swaying, flashing, sheepskin drums, horns, horses' hooves swaying on the ground, shouting and shouting, and the sound of killing was also audible.

"You can't afford to lose your strength." Zhao Hui's face was pale, and his tone became extremely cold and solemn, without the slightest fear or hesitation, "Withdraw all your 1,000 soldiers and merge with me, and all the musketeers and archers are outside to protect the army." The enemy rushes into battle, just shoot guns and arrows to block! You go and bring your men back, boil water, eat beef jerky, and listen to my orders. ”

"Wow!" Zhang Qun agreed, and flew away.

"Herald Hu Fugui, his messenger is to protect the food of the old camp, no matter what happens here, no reinforcements are allowed without an order!" Zhaohui Shiren remained motionless and then ordered: "Order Liao Huaqing and Ma Guangzu to immediately join forces and set up a camp twenty miles away from me." I have a lot of muskets here, and the enemy can't bite me, so I have to guard against them. Beware of sneak attacks at night! Tell Liao Ma and the two soldiers that the enemy has no source of food and salary, and they have to retreat if they don't retreat for two days. They sent someone to contact me every moment, and I was always in charge if there was an emergency. If I miss the slightest flash, I won't be able to care about years of friendship! Got it? ”

"Wow! Got it. ”

"Repeat!"

The Chinese army said it again without missing a word.

"Go ahead."

"Wow!"

The Chinese army promised to ride away, and the muskets on the edge of the Qing army's camp in the west had exploded like a sea of beans, and the horsemen drove a load of arrows through the camp to transport them forward, and Zhaohui ordered: "Continue to cook, burn mung bean soup and supply Zhang Qun to them." "And ordered" to dig nails in the corners of the ground and set up tents. After eating, sing the military song as usual". He didn't dismount either, and said, "With five personal soldiers, I'll go to patrol the camp!" ”

His trick was very effective, riding with his own soldiers, stumbling around the barracks as if nothing had happened, sometimes coming down to reprimand "the pot is unstable, and the people are scalding when scooping rice", sometimes patting the young soldiers on the shoulder to ask about their daily routines, and sometimes they meet old subordinates, poke a fist and laugh and curse...... It's strange to say, just walking around like this, the sound of gunfire and killing outside the camp is moving, but the people's hearts are not panicked - since ancient times, there is no fear of death for those who are soldiers, and there is no fear at all when they are officials. When the fireworks of the evening cooking stove went off, Huo Jizhan's soldiers also withdrew to the camp.

After that, it was the same situation for two consecutive days, during the day the two sides lined up and clamored, the thousand horses attacked the camp and harassed, and at night they were on guard for a sneak attack. On the third day, Zhaohui had already guessed that there was something strange in it, because he ordered Liao Huaqing to hurry to the meeting of Ma Guangzu's camp, and arranged for Zhaozhangqun to still be false and wrong, and brought more than 100 horses to Ma Guangzu's camp - the distance was only twenty miles away - and it was only a short time to arrive. At this time, the military situation was as urgent as a spark, and the three of them did not meet in time, so they immediately discussed the situation.

"I've already sent someone to see it." Ma Guangzu said, "He has less than 20,000 soldiers in front of him. When we came here, he took care of the emergency war, just playing mouse and cat, waiting for Jinji Fort to send food. He had no food, and our army was strong in firearms, and when he was defeated in a battle, he immediately collapsed and collapsed. Liao Huaqing said with a smile: "I think it's a bit like two blind men playing a three-way street, touching in the dark, and trying to prevent and fight." His grain route is only more than 100 miles, and we are 1,500 miles. The confrontation has lasted for a long time, and only we have suffered. In my opinion, just bring Hu Fugui and Lao Yingtong out, and eat the front one first. Ma Guangzu shook his head and said, "He has more than 50,000 cavalry...... There is no need for cavalry to defend the city. Where did the rest of the soldiers go? Will...... Will you move upstream of the Ama River, cut off our grain route at the Doll River, and then fight us head-on......"

Zhaohui didn't say a word to listen to their discussions, Huo Jizhan moved towards the Grandma River, he had already thought of this layer. However, it was a road of more than 700 miles, and there was a desert, and there was not enough food, grass and water bladders. But what if the enemy moves south from the northeast, cuts off the communication between the three-way army and the old camp of Heishui River from the middle road, and snipes back to help? The attack here has already tested the strength of the official army and firearms, will they turn around and avoid the real situation and attack the old camp? …… For a moment, Zhaohui had countless thoughts in his heart, but he smiled: "It's really a bit of "Three Forks", fighting in the dark. This Huo Jizhan can be regarded as a role, and he is scheming! He smiled and said, "The most important thing now is to contact Changji Hailancha, report the military situation, and let him send troops from the mouth of the Lele River to approach Jinji Fort." The road over there is difficult to walk, just use all the way to create momentum, Huo Jizhan is attacked at both ends, and he can't attack us recklessly. After saying that, he looked at Ma Guangzu, Ma Guangzu said: "This matter will be marked down, and three groups of people will be selected from the best." Every 100 people must be able to kick, bite, and stay, dress up as Erut soldiers, and move northwest at night. This is a life-threatening thing, and it can't be done without a heavy reward. Zhaohui said: "Each person will be rewarded with two thousand taels." When the letter of explanation was delivered, the silver was distributed, and he no longer participated in the war, and returned to his hometown to enjoy the blessings. Those who want to be officials will be promoted to three more levels. Liao Huaqing said with a smile: "Sending the military report of 600,000 yuan, this difference makes me eager to try!" Ma Guangzu said coldly: "It's good that ten people can go to Hailancha alive." ”

Speaking of the treacherous nature of the war, the three generals were silent for a while. When he was relatively speechless, Zhao Hui said: "The enemy's frontal army is less than 20,000, what are the rest of the people doing, and now they can't reconnoiter calmly." North Road and East Road, there are no roads on the grassland, and it can be said that there are roads everywhere. Beware that they will come from the east to stop us, and then go to attack the old camp. Therefore, it is not advisable to follow us again, bring a hundred firecrackers and return to the Blackwater camp today. **'s soldiers were also gathered and commanded by Guangzu. Tonight—" He lowered his voice, his gloomy tone making people feel heartbroken, "tonight our army will eat half an hour early. At dusk I took 6,000 cavalry and attacked and kicked his camp to pieces. If he doesn't come out, he has to come out. ”

This abrupt and bold plan, the two of them were startled when they heard it, and after a moment's stunned, Ma Guangzu said: "The raid and kick camp are all at dawn in the second half of the night. At dusk, the whole camp is awake, how to fight? Besides, you are the main general, and you want to fight, and you are also an old horse. Liao Huaqing said: "This kind of beheading business, or I'll come!" ”

"I've been watching it for two nights, and it's very guarded." Zhaohui said, "You will raid for forty miles, and you will know this one and that one when you move." That's why I've got to come. When people woke up at dusk, but it was just when the vigilance was relaxed, and I slammed them into eating. It's like a hornet's nest, stab it with a stick, and all the bees hiding in the nest will come out. Ma Guangzu looked out of the tent with a faint gaze, pondered for a long time, and said: "I think, we quickly dispatched troops from the Heishui River, and Huo Jizhan didn't expect it. If you hit it again by surprise, you can at least find out where his main force is. Dajunmen, this method is good, it is too dangerous - if you poke the hornet's nest, all the hornets will come out and chase you and sting you. We are more than 200 miles away from the Blackwater Battalion, and we are alone, the striker and the main force, in case you are surrounded and chased, how to rescue? In which direction are you breaking through? This scuffle is only half certain! Zhaohui said, "I will come to your camp to discuss this in person." Now that we have withdrawn from the army, we will show our flaws in front of others as soon as we move, and we will be beaten all the way back all the way. After the fight, the situation is disturbed, this is a battle of comparable strength, seeing the enemy's strength, he is surrounded here, you will transfer the whole army of the old battalion to fight. If I can't retreat, I'll break through to the south and move closer to the old camp. They pursue, and you stop and kill. When the narrow road meets, the brave wins, and the fighters here cannot be missed. ”

Having said that, Ma Guangzu has no other way to think about it. Liao Huaqing is a fierce general in front of the battle, and he can't compare to Ma Guangzu or Zhaohui in terms of heart and eyes, so he beat his thigh and said viciously: "!" Zhaojunmen will kill for a while, and the hornets will move closer to our rear team when they come out, and I will go to kill the second team. ”

"Now announce the military order." Zhao Hui's eyes lit up, he stood up and put his hands on the case, and said coldly, "In the afternoon, I will lead six thousand cavalry to rush into battle. From then on, Ma Guangzu took over the command of the battalion. Do everything possible to contact me at any time. If Lao Ma dies in battle, the command will be handed over to Liao Huaqing, and then Hu Fugui. No matter how critical my situation is, the old camp of Heishui River is not allowed to move. If you have to move, all three of you must be in agreement. If one person does not agree, he is not allowed to move. Reinforcements from Hailancha will arrive in ten days at most. In less than fifteen days, you will do what I will command. You understand? ”

"Wow! Got it! ”

In the evening, the blood-red sun sank along the snow-capped mountains, half-hidden under the endless horizon, the whole prairie was shrouded in a golden sunset, the long-flowing Lele River, the grass and trees were like being immersed in the red mist, even the river water seemed to be stained with blood, flowing silently, the cooking smoke in the Huojizhan camp burned one after another, and it was scattered on the gradually darkening meadow, which looked a little mysterious and unpredictable. At this moment, the Zhaohui camp suddenly sounded three horns, which seemed to ignite the ** bag and shook the earth, and the earth-shattering loud noise startled the tired birds and birds to soar up and dance in the sky. The soldiers of the Huo Jizhan barracks patrolled and disturbed for a day, and they had just eaten a few bites of food when they heard the shouts of killing in the east of the earth. Before he could figure out what was going on, six thousand horsemen had already flooded in.

Huo Jizhan was in chaos when the camp was established. Suddenly, some people were looking for bows and arrows, some were holding their heads and running around, some were crying and shouting "Allah" and "Hu Da", some were clueless and carried knives and horses to drill around, and the shouting of people was mixed with the shouting of officers, the sound of horses' hooves, and the horns could not blow the tune, so that the soldiers could not find the officers, and the officers could not find the soldiers...... Zhaozhang Qun rushed straight in with spears in his hand, and his 1,000 soldiers used swords, guns, swords, and halberds to huddle closely, and everyone rushed in like crazy, screaming shirtless, only to rush to crowded places and slash and chop and slash and slash all over blood. Zhaohui led 5,000 men with 2,000 on the left and 2,000 on the right, 500 archers and 500 musketeers in their grip and fought from the north and went straight to the camp of the Chinese army. Seeing that the enemy was in a mess, Zhao Hui threw his arms on his horse and shouted: "Good job, children, add three more levels to each person's military merit in the middle camp!" ”

This big kicking camp was another dangerous move, but these poor and Zhuo Mu returned to the army defenseless, the establishment was disrupted for a while, the orders could not be communicated, and they were killed by this fierce iron horse, and even the mounts were frightened and fled in all directions. The entire military camp was trampled and kicked by Zhaohui wantonly, cutting wheat generally fell into a piece, the people in the sword bush and the tree fought for themselves, some of the screams and shouts were cut off and their arms were pierced and their legs were broken, and their necks were cut off and the heavenly spirit was slashed, and the "blood rain" poured from the sky, and the heads of people were kicked around by horses in the grass, and countless people killed their horses. However, the Erlut soldiers are different from the soldiers of the Central Plains, everyone is lonely and strong, although the deployment is disrupted, they fight to the death alone, some of them still use knives and guns to stab the Qing soldiers, some people are dead and still hold on to the legs of the horses, some of the Qing soldiers fall off their horses, and they are immediately embraced by them and chopped into meat and mud, and sometimes they even unite into a team and block the horse team with flesh and blood. When Zhaohui had no choice but to do so, he also ordered the musket team to open fire, kill the bloody alley and then rush forward.

At this moment, the sky has completely darkened. Ma Guangzu attacked from Zhaohui, so he ordered the whole army to be ready for battle, turned out the lights in the camp, climbed a hill by himself, and observed the movement with a telescope. A group of fiery figures looked chaotic in the buildings, and I saw that the horse team in the southern part of the Erut camp was gradually gathered, and a large number of horses like black crows neighed. It was expected that Huo Jizhan's soldiers had already sobered up and withdrew from the camp to assemble and wait for battle. is thinking about taking the opportunity to slam westward, and Ying Zhaohui is responding. Suddenly, there was a burst of gunfire behind the eastern camp, and a shouting of killing like wind and rain and lightning suddenly broke out, and the fire signal rocket shot towards the camp like a meteor shower, and the camp suddenly became extremely terrifying and panicked. Ma Guangzu hurriedly descended the hill, ordered the soldiers to light torches, drew their swords and stood and shouted: "This is the enemy's kicking camp, each shed and each battalion according to my arrangement, pull up the tripping horses!" Don't panic, fight in a team—which general dares to abandon the army—"Before he finished speaking, the soldiers who were probing the sentry had already flown to the front, dismounted, and immediately reported:

"Ma Junmen, the enemy has rushed into Dongying Gate!"

"How many people? Cavalry infantry? ”

"There are two thousand rushing in the front wall, and there is a brigade in the rear, I can't see how many there are, and it is vaguely all cavalry."

"Defenders - what's going on with the defenders?"

"Back to the military gate, the rear battalion is not a messenger under the standard." The scout gasped, didn't finish speaking, raised his hand and pointed and said, "That's not Wei Qingchen Wei Guan from the rear camp, he's here!" ”

When Ma Guangzu turned his face sharply, it was really Wei Qingchen who came, but he was very embarrassed, with an arrow stuck in his shoulder, and he staggered over with three or four hundred people, running one end and shouting: "Ma Junmen!" More than two thousand rushed in our rear battalion, and muskets! Liao Huaqing's camp is fine. Hurry up and send them reinforcements......"

At this time, the sound of killing on both sides of the southeast shook the sky, and the flashing and dim firelight was reflected on Ma Guangzu's iron-cast face, which was also bright and dark, and it looked strange and hideous. He stood motionless for a long time before asking, "What about your people?" ”

"Back to the military gate - we only have ten muskets, and we can't stop ......"

"So you run away and leave the southern road to the enemy!"

"Ma Junmen!"

Wei Qingchen had already seen that something was wrong, and he took two steps forward, and he had to explain something, Ma Guangzu raised his backhand, and the cold long sword had already penetrated his chest, and when he pulled it out, Wei Qingchen was already bleeding. Ma Guangzu said: "Which general dares to abandon the army and flee, this is an example!" As soon as Wei Qingchen turned over, he fell to the ground with a "plop". Frightened, the officers and soldiers who fled with them retreated in shock. Ma Guangzu turned his face and asked the sentry, "What's your name?" "Go back to the military gate, Gao Yaozu!" The sergeant replied with his hand down. Ma Guangzu smiled: "Good name!" Raise your rear battalion guerrilla pipe band now. These soldiers—" he pointed to the group of routs, "I'll give you another twenty muskets to knock out the enemy in the rear camp, and it will be the first credit to get in touch with the Liao Army." As he spoke, he handed over the sword: "You take this with you!" ”

"Mark and obey!" Gao Yaozu took the bloody sword with both hands and took a step back, tore off his shirt with a "snort", raised his shirtless, and shouted: "If you are cowardly, you can't be a general, and if you are promoted to get rich and are not afraid of death, follow me!" "Those routs saw that Wei Qingchen had been killed, Fang Zigu was frightened, Gao Yaozu raised his arms and shouted to lead the fight, and there were twenty muskets to strengthen his courage, he was stunned for a moment, and he shouted in unison to kill south. Ma Guangzu was calm outside, but in fact, his heart was tightened, his fists were clenched in cold sweat, and he stared at the south without blinking. Because the Qing army has infantry and cavalry, the camp is the most strictly guarded, in Xi'an Zhaohui ordered the purchase of a large number of cowhide ropes and horse ropes, which can be used at any time in an emergency, and the spider webs are also spread, the enemy cavalry rushed in, not to mention the night, and the day is also difficult - the enemy army in the east has withdrawn after hearing the sound, he is worried that Wei Qingchen's rear camp will be disrupted, occupied and advanced by the enemy, or set fire to the camp, and the whole formation will be festered and difficult to clean up - about half a meal, the killing sound in the south is blazing, and the horses neighing and shouting at each other are noisy, Several fires are extinguished, from time to time there are rows of gunfire, as soon as you hear it, you know that it is Gao Yaozu in the counterattack, the hand-to-hand sumo wrestling white-knuckle combat aroused him to break out in a cold sweat again and again, and when he moved, he heard the sound of the cannon in the distance in the south, and a sound of killing faintly came, hearing that it was Chinese, Ma Guangzu felt a little relieved, wiped a handful of sweat and muttered: "It's Lao Liao who came to reinforce me......" For a while, he heard the horn of Zhuo Huibing on all sides, and the enemy attacking the camp did not succeed and retreated. Ma Guangzu frowned and gritted his teeth to calculate Huo Ji's intention to occupy the troops and transport troops, and he couldn't think about it for a while, seeing that Liao Huaqing was covered in blood with a whip in one hand and a knife in the other, he didn't have time to comfort him, so he asked: "Old Liao, is there any movement outside your camp?" ”

"There are two thousand on the east side of my battalion." Liao Huaqing probably splashed sand or human blood in his mouth, spat "bah", and scolded, "-slippery fish, fucking just release arrows and don't enter my camp!" I saw that you were not right, so I brought 2,000 people here! You have newly promoted the one with the surname Gao, and you have asked someone to remove one arm and still fight. Hey, kid! ”

"Lao Liao, hurry back to the camp." Ma Guangzu said, "If something happens to you, our way back will be cut off." It doesn't matter to me here, the enemy is feintting, and I can't go to reinforce the Zhaojun Gate. Liao Huaqing said: "I also have a feint there." He didn't dare to come to the real one, he was afraid that Hu Fugui's people would come up. ”

Although others are coarse, after all, they are also people who have been on the battlefield for a long time. Ma Guangzu's heart moved, and he said: "A feint attack can also be turned into a real attack, and our two camps must not make mistakes." You hurry up and take your people back. Liao Huaqing raised his whip and pointed to the west and asked, "What should I do over there Lao Zhaohui?" ”

Ma Guangzu had to pay attention at this time, and when he looked westward, Erut's soldiers seemed to have all withdrawn from the camp and gathered in the south of the camp. The northern half of the camp flickered and lit clusters of flames, and it was obvious that Zhaohui's soldiers were already setting fire to the camp, and one or two gunshots could be heard sporadically, like the sound of burning bamboo knots in the fire, which came in a monotonous and boring manner, making people feel even more lonely and terrifying.

"It has become a stalemate over there, and he has not figured out the strength of Zhaojunmen. He's waiting for the dawn! Ma Guangzu breathed a sigh of relief, "The big battalion was kicked like that, Huo Jizhan's ambush soldiers never showed up, and only sent a few thousand people to harass us, this is really a powerful character!" He said as he pondered, and said with a stroke of his palms: "He can feint, why can't I?" Lao Liao, you take your people to fight from the south of the camp to the west for a while, the shot must be fast and fierce, and he will be caught off guard, and then immediately collect the troops and return to the camp, never fall in love with the war, you withdraw and I will immediately send 5,000 people over, and the camp will shoot guns, shout, drum cheers, and create momentum. See if his ambush comes out? Liao Huaqing said excitedly: "Okay, I'll retreat as soon as I fight, and then you go up - he can't hold his strength, and the ambushed soldiers have to go to the rescue." Ma Guangzu said: "He came out to rescue, and I returned to the camp with Zhaojunmen." If he still doesn't come out, my feint will turn into a real attack, eat him! You can give me advice and protection. ”

Liao Huaqing smiled childishly, turned around and walked all the way with a whip and said, "Okay, the head work will be given to you!" But he acted very quickly, returned to the south of the camp, ordered the torches to be lit, and in the light of the fire, he raised his horse and waved his sword, and shouted: "Children, follow the master!" Now shout in unison - kill! ”

"Kill!"

The two thousand people he brought with him, as well as the two or three thousand people in Ma Guangzu's southern camp, roared loudly, and a thunderclap sounded on the ground, and the torch team rushed to the west like a fire worm.

[1]

Bitter drama, that is, tragedy.