In the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City, Emperor Wanli was playing with the yellow crystal cat from Persia, and at the same time lazily said to Du Wenlin, who was kneeling on the ground:

"You won a great victory on your first expedition, and the widow appreciates you very much! You are not only outstanding in literary talent, but also outstanding in force, and you are a rare pillar of our dynasty. ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the compliment! Wechen is just trying his best to do his job. Du Wenlin replied.

"Although the 'Red Seal Sect' has caused chaos in the society, at present, compared with the disaster of the chaotic people in Ningxia, which is only for the disease of scabies, quelling the rebellion in Ningxia should be the first task. The widow decided to send Yu Shi Mei Guozhen to Ningxia to be the supervisor of the bandits, and you will be the escort of this trip. The emperor said slowly.

When Du Wenlin heard that he was going to be sent to Ningxia to quell the chaos, he was very excited.

He, a Jiangnan native, has long longed for the scenery outside the "desert and lonely smoke", and this expedition to Ningxia can also meet his long-standing wishes.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness, Weichen will live up to his mission."

"On this trip to Ningxia, there is another task, you help me secretly observe and investigate the situation of local officials, including those military attaches on the front line. If there is anything illegal and undisciplined, I will personally show it to me when I come back. ”

Du Wenlin secretly complained in his heart, what the emperor arranged was precisely the work of the Jinyi guards, but now it was handed over to him to do, if this matter was known by the Beizhen Fusi, it would become a thorn in their side, after all, it was he who crossed the line to do other people's work, which was tantamount to robbing other people's jobs.

Yu Shi Mei Guozhen is in his early forties, his face is thin and white, and he speaks slowly and logically:

"Lord Du, we are going west to Ningxia this time, and everyone's safety along the way is entrusted to you!"

"Master Mei rest assured, the lower officials will do their best to do a good job of security."

Maybe Master Mei didn't look down on the young Du Wenlin. Although he was born as a champion, he is a civilian after all, and he still looks like a yellow-mouthed child who is "milky and not dry". During the trip to Jiangnan, the blind cat ran into a dead mouse and destroyed the Changzhou rudder of the "Red Confession", and there was no other achievement. Helplessly, the emperor fell in love with him and deliberately promoted him, so let him go, until the day he hit his head and bleed, he would know what "the sky is high and the earth is thick".

Therefore, there was no extra greeting to him, and after saying a word, he ignored it with a cold face.

Du Wenlin stood there a little embarrassed, and said:

"If Master Mei has no other instructions, the lower official will retire."

Mei Guozhen didn't raise his eyelids, and gently swung his right hand outward.

The expedition was imminent, Du Wenlin returned to the ministry and met Yang Shangshu.

Yang Shangshu is not optimistic about his trip to Ningxia:

"It's not just about war, it's about strategy and politics. Sometimes, even if there is a meritorious performance, it is not welcomed. Therefore, we must not only do our own work with due diligence, but also beware of being used and attacked by villains. Dealing with these requires not only careful consideration, but also time and experience. After all, you are too young to know how to deal with many things that you have not experienced. If you are not careful, it will affect your future. ”

Du Wenlin was extremely touched by his concern, and only said that he would do his best.

Wang Ling and Ying Rong'er heard that Du Wenlin was about to go to the border of Ningxia, and they both shouted that they wanted to go with him.

Du Wenlin said that he was appointed by the emperor to escort him, and it was against the military system for the two women to go out with the army, so they couldn't.

When Du Wenlin was refused, they went to find their father-in-law.

The prince couldn't stand the soft grinding and hard bubbles of the two of them, so he brought Du Wenlin in:

"Wenlin, why don't you take the two girls with you. Then I will go and ask Mei to add their names to the list of factory guards who will accompany the army, so that there should be no problem. ”

Seeing that the prince said this, Du Wenlin had no reason to refuse.

Wang Ling looked at Rong'er:

"You stinky little girl is making a lot of fun, don't be scared by the thousands of troops on the battlefield and pee your pants."

Rong'er pouted:

"Hmph, how many years older are you? If you can go, why can't I? ”

Wang Gonggong smiled:

"Okay, you two don't bother anymore. I still have to find Commander Luo again, and I have to say hello to Rong'er about going out with the army, after all, you belong to the establishment of Jinyiwei now. ”

He also told Du Wenlin:

"Wenlin, I'll leave these two girls to you. How you took them out, you have to bring them back. If something goes wrong, I can't spare you! ”

Although he was smiling, his tone was not relaxed at all.

Du Wenlin knew how heavy the burden was, and if something happened to these two girls, he wouldn't have to come back.

He said he wouldn't spare himself, it wasn't to scare him.

At the beginning of May, the prison army left the western part of the capital in a huge way.

In addition to 2,000 soldiers, there were more than 20 factory guards. Du Wenlin was appointed as the secretary of the Xuanfu Envoy and was fully responsible for all the military affairs of this team.

Out of Datong, the scenery on the west road gradually became desolate.

Wang Ling and Rong'er, two girls and a horse, chattered along the way, bringing a lot of lively atmosphere to this murderous team.

Because I was accustomed to seeing the crowding and noisy of the capital, I suddenly came to the Loess Plateau where "Pingsha is reckless and yellow into the sky", and I felt that my mood was much broader.

Du Wenlin looked at the excitement of the two girls, shook his head, and said in his heart: We didn't come out to play, and when we got to the battlefield, you would suffer.

Master Mei sat in the carriage, and almost didn't talk to Du Wenlin when he had nothing to do. Every evening, when the troops were camped, he always went directly to the tent of the Chinese army, and rarely intervened in defense matters. Anyway, Du Wenlin is in charge of the outside, and he is too lazy to care.

This team was mainly from the command envoy of the capital garrison, and it turned out to belong to the command envoy Zheng Guotai.

Therefore, the deputy commander is also from the command of the envoy of the thousand households Wang Zhibiao.

Wang Qianhu is in his thirties, tall, shrewd and capable, and has no white face.

Du Wenlin has a good impression of him, because this person does not have the arrogance and rudeness of those officers, he is easier to speak, and he is more capable of commanding soldiers.

According to the scout's report, another 500 miles ahead will enter Yan'an Mansion. When you arrive in Yan'an Mansion, you are equivalent to going to the front line. Du Wenlin looked at the sky, it was already in Shenshi, and it was time to set up camp again, so he ordered the troops to stop and start camping.

It was extremely rare for Master Mei to walk out of the tent, come to the outside of the barracks, look around, and say to Du Wenlin:

"The front line is already approaching, and there is a flat river around it, and it is extremely difficult to resist if the enemy attacks. Remind the soldiers to keep their spirits up tonight. ”

After finishing speaking, he seemed to be at ease, and pointed out the layout and structure of the barracks.

Along the way, Du Wenlin had never seen Master Mei so careful, let alone that he was so skilled in the garrison and defense of the army, and he instantly admired him.

After Master Mei finished instructing, he went back to the tent and did not invite Du Wenlin to go over, Du Wenlin wanted to go in and discuss tomorrow's itinerary with him again, but seeing that he was so cold, he had no choice but to give up.

The stars in the sky were obscured by the yellow dust whirlwind of gusts of wind, and they appeared dim.

Du Wenlin was on the grass outside the gate, holding a sword and following Wang Ling to practice Huashan swordsmanship, and the little girl Rong'er kept pointing and pointing beside her, occasionally clapping her hands, and occasionally jumping and scolding her stupidity.

Although Rong'er is not very old, she has been following the Xuankong Dao people for ten years, and she has already exhausted the essence of Huashan swordsmanship, so she is qualified to guide Du Wenlin.

After leaving Beijing, as long as he had spare time, Du Wenlin would beg these two girls to teach him Huashan swordsmanship.

Du Wenlin was already smart and had a high level of understanding, and it didn't take long for the whole set of swordsmanship to be used by him, and the two girls' moves were learned by him.

"My sister and I have been teaching you for so long, and you have learned the swordsmanship almost as well, so you can't always call our names in the future." Rong'er pouted.

Du Wenlin stopped and asked with a smile:

"And what do I have to call you two?"

Rong'er pointed at Wang Ling with her little hand:

"Call me sister master, call me uncle."

Du Wenlin wiped the sweat on his forehead:

"You have some truth in that, didn't the ancients say, 'If a person is not born to know, how can he be free from confusion?' 'Before I was born, he heard the word before me, and I learned from him. After being born to me, he heard the Tao before me, and I learned from him. ’”

"Yes, the one who came to read the book again, and then I will not teach you our stunts in the future." Wang Ling said with a smile.

Du Wenlin was so embarrassed that he began to scratch his head again.

In the distance, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves galloping, and in a blink of an eye, the man on the horse was already in front of him, and the man on the horse grabbed the reins of the horse:

"Report to Lord Du, there is an enemy attacking."

It was the soldiers who stood guard on the periphery to report.

"How many are there in the enemy?"

"It looks like a lot, it's too dark at night to see clearly."

Du Wenlin turned his head and ran quickly towards the barracks, and said to Wang Ling as he ran:

"You and Rong'er go to protect Master Mei."

The two girls ran directly to the handsome tent in the middle.

Du Wenlin came to the middle of the barracks and said to Wang Qianhu, who had been waiting there with his troops for a long time:

"Immediately send someone to call up all the sleeping soldiers, let them assemble in the back, and when the war drums are beating, they will rush out together to join the battle."

Then he pointed to the soldiers who had been waiting in line for a long time and said:

"According to the predetermined plan, divide them into two teams and lay in ambush on both sides of the camp gate."

Since the passage of Datong, the soldiers have been divided into two shifts every night to rest in turn, just to prevent sneak attacks.

In a few moments, a group of cavalry had already broken through the gate and rushed straight to the tent in the middle.

A scimitar flashed with cold light and kept slashing towards the tent, but unfortunately there was no figure of the other party except for splitting the tent.

The horses neighed and burst in, galloping back and forth, breaking through the tents.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering war drum sounded, and countless soldiers with spears suddenly poured out of the darkness on both sides of the gate, cutting off the cavalry that continued to enter, and the more than two-meter-high deer firewood instantly blocked the door layer by layer, and the spikes of the sticks on the deer firewood pointed out obliquely like rows of wolf teeth, so that the war horses that wanted to break through the obstacles were instantly drenched in blood, and the horses behind them stopped no matter how the riders beat them.

There were as many as three or four hundred horses that had broken into the camp, and they were surrounded in the middle and constantly dodging arrows from all sides, and many people had already been shot and fell off their horses, and the horses were frightened and fled, causing the other horses to be restless and scurry around.

The war drums beat rapidly again, and the Ming army, hiding in the dark, shouted with spears and rushed to the horse team in the middle.

The cavalry on the war horse also swung their swords and rushed towards the other party, but unfortunately the space was too small, and before they could give full play to the advantage of the war horse's rapid killing, they were stabbed under the horse by the spear on the opposite side.

Du Wenlin stood outside Master Mei's main tent, observing the situation on the battlefield not far away.

Lord Mei behind him stood at the door in civilian clothes, watching the fight in the distance silently.

In the afternoon, he had a premonition that tonight would not be peaceful, and he guessed it.

But he didn't expect Du Wenlin to have such a command talent, seeing that the encircled enemy cavalry was gradually being wiped out, and it didn't seem that it would take too long for the whole army to be annihilated.

Suddenly, there was a change in the field, and the four horsemen suddenly flew out of their saddles and rushed forward like a whirlwind.

The soldiers saw several black shadows attacking, and hurriedly blocked them with their spears, but before the spears could be pierced, their throats were swept by the scimitars.

Where the four dark shadows floated by, the soldiers fell to the ground one after another, so fast that they didn't even cry.

Du Wenlin was shocked, and suddenly remembered the "Desert Zerg".

Are they among these enemy soldiers?

A patch of yellow sand was swept up by the wind, and smoke and dust filled the air.

Like ghosts, the four dark shadow figures swirled around the edge of the battlefield, rows of soldiers fell under their shiny scimitars, and the assassination technique that they usually trained hard was like child's play in front of them.

"Don't back down!" Wang Qianhu, who was standing on the periphery, shouted and slashed down the two retreating soldiers with his sword.

Du Wenlin had already determined that the four people opposite were the "Desert Zerg", and he looked back and said to Wang Ling:

"Take care to protect Mei-sama!"

As soon as the words fell, it was like an arrow off the string shooting towards the battlefield.