After listening to the old man's words, Zhang Dezheng thought about it, his home was not far away, and he was looking for someone to inquire about some information, so he nodded and agreed. Zhang Dezheng took two personal soldiers to accompany the father and daughter to their house, the old man invited them to sit down, served tea, and then sat down opposite, and said, "Benefactor, dare to ask what kind of army you are?" ”

"We are the Tang Army."

"Tang Jun? So, Datang's army is back? ”

Zhang Dezheng shook his head and said, "No, we are just a partial division, and we were ordered to go to Liu Wuzhou's rear to cut off their grain routes, but we never got the essentials, so we are very troubled." The old man nodded and said, "Fifty miles north of this place, there is a place called Zhang Nanbao, and the benefactor can go there to have a look." ”

"Zhang Nanbao?"

"Yes, Zhang Nanbao is located between Pingyao and Yong'an," the old man said as he dipped his fingers in some water in his teacup and drew a circle on the table, "This is Pingyao, this is Yong'an, there is a steep mountain between Pingyao and Yong'an, and there is only one official road to walk," the old man said and drew a connecting line between the two circles, "This is Fenshui, and that official road is thirty miles away from Fenshui." ”

Although Zhang Dezheng was not very familiar with the terrain in this area, he still knew the general direction, Yong'an was near them, and Pingyuan was two hundred miles away to the north, and Song Jingang's grain was transported from Pingyao. He understood, and hurriedly said: "Uncle, are you saying that there is only one official road from Pingyao to Yong'an, and that official road is thirty miles away in the Fenshui River Valley, right?" The old man nodded and said, "You are right. When he was young, he made a living by hunting and collecting medicine, and he was very familiar with the terrain in that area. Within a radius of several hundred miles, the section of the official road in the Fenshui River Valley is the most precipitous, one side of the mountain, the other side of the water, and Zhang Nanbao is located at the mouth of the valley, if it is stuck there, the north-south trade route will be cut off at once. ”

Zhang Dezheng was very happy when he heard it, he really had nowhere to find it when he stepped on the iron shoes, and it took no effort to get it. He finally found the key to cutting off Song Jingang's grain path.

After Zhang Dezheng returned to the camp, he told Mao Jue about the information he had obtained, and Mao Jue was also very happy when he heard it, and said, "Then let's leave early tomorrow morning and go to Zhang Nanbao." ”

The next day, Zhang Dezheng and Mao Jue led the team, and after a day of rapid marching, they came to a small village five miles away from Zhang Nanbao and settled down. Zhang Dezheng inquired with the villagers and learned that there were about 1,000 enemy troops stationed at Zhangnanbao.

On the second day of Meng, Zhang Dezheng led two personal soldiers to Zhang Nanbao to reconnoitre. They climbed a small hill a mile from the castle and hid themselves in a bush. Zhang Dezheng raised his eyes and looked around, only to see that Zhang Nanbao was built on the mountain, the east city wall was next to the cliff of dozens of thousands of miles high, the outside of the west city wall was the turbulent Fenshui, and the official road from Pingyao to Yong'an just passed through the castle, it was like a strong pass guarding the key pass.

Like all castles, Zhangnanbao has complete defensive facilities, the city wall is about two zhang five feet high, the circumference is about two li, there is a moat outside the city, about four or five zhang wide, and the moat is filled with river water drawn from Fenshui. The banner of Liu Wuzhou's army fluttered on the city wall, and the enemy army at the head of the city was heavily guarded, and every five paces away, there was a soldier standing solemnly with a weapon in his hand, and the armor on their bodies and the spears in their hands shone brightly in the sunlight.

Zhang Dezheng observed for a long time and couldn't help frowning. There were a thousand defenders in the castle, and the walls were so tall that there was a moat to block them, and he only had six or seven hundred men in his hands.

Just when Zhang Dezheng was depressed, the city gate that had been closed was opened, and the suspension bridge over the moat was also lowered. Immediately afterward, carts of mules and horses drove out of the city, and the carts were loaded with sacks of grain. Apparently, this was a convoy of grain for the enemy. This convoy consisted of thirty or forty carts, escorted by four or five hundred soldiers. After the coachmen drove the carts across the drawbridge, the drawbridge was pulled up and the city gates were closed again.

The enemy's grain convoy was heading south along the official road, and looking at the back of the convoy in the distance, Zhang Dezheng's mind suddenly flashed with inspiration. He excitedly said to his soldiers: "There is a way, let's go back." ”

Zhang Dezheng returned to the station, told Mao Jue about the reconnaissance, and then said: "The enemy is outnumbered, and we can't attack, so we can only outwit." ”

"How to outwit?"

"Let's climb over the mountains, insert into the Fenshui River Valley, ambush the enemy's grain transportation team, and then Qiao disguise himself as the enemy army to enter Zhangnanbao and come to its center to blossom."

"That's a good idea." Mao Jue agreed.

So, Zhang Dezheng found a local hunter and gave him a sum of money to lead the way into the Fenshui River Valley. Zhang Dezheng left 50 soldiers and asked them to guard the baggage, and the rest were all lightly armed, and under the leadership of the guide, they marched to the depths of the mountains.

The mountain on the east side of Fenshui is Yunqiu Mountain, a branch of Taihang Mountain, and the team climbed up the mountain along the path stepped by the woodcutter, and after walking for a long time, they could no longer find their way. The further you go, the more steep the mountain becomes, with peaks and peaks, dangerous rocks towering, and you can encounter steep cliffs from time to time. Each time, the guide climbed first, then lowered the rope, and the soldiers climbed up again. The team walked through a mountain valley that could not be impenetrated by apes, and after more than two hours, they came to the top of a cliff. Zhang Dezheng leaned over and looked down, and below was the surging Fen water, and the level of Fen was a three-zhang wide official road.

It's finally here! Zhang Dezheng was very happy. The guide found a trail and led the team down into the valley. At this moment, the official road is empty, with neither cars, horses, nor pedestrians. Zhang Dezheng ordered the team to enter a wooded area by the side of the road, and the soldiers rested while eating the dry food they had brought with them.

About an hour later, the scouts who had been sent out came back to report that there had been a convoy of forty or fifty carts of grain and five or six hundred soldiers. As soon as Zhang Dezheng heard the joy, he immediately ordered everyone to get ready, and he himself came to the edge of the woods, hid behind a big tree, and observed the movements on the official road.

About a stick of incense later, the enemy's convoy of grain appeared, and at the forefront was an officer on a tall horse. I saw him shaking his head and looking around. The escort soldiers were scattered in a scattered formation, carrying spears on their shoulders and following the grain carts lazily. These soldiers probably never dreamed that an enemy would ambush them here.

With Zhang Dezheng's order, the Tang army ambushed in the woods fired their bows and crossbows, and one arrow after another shot out like flying locusts, and the enemy soldiers were caught off guard and fell to the ground one after another. The soldiers, who were not hit by the arrows, panicked and looked around for a place to hide.

After a rain of arrows, the Don army rushed out of the woods and engaged in a desperate struggle with the remaining enemy troops. After Zhang Dezheng stabbed two enemy soldiers, he found that the officer had abandoned his subordinates and fled forward. No, he must not be allowed to escape alive to Zhang Nanbao to report the news! Zhang Dezheng took off the hard bow he was carrying, pulled out the white feather arrow from the quiver, pulled the silk string to the full bow, and shot an arrow, hitting him in the back of the heart, and the officer fell off the horse. Zhang Dezheng ran over and searched for the customs clearance document from him.

The battle was soon over, and none of the enemy soldiers survived. Zhang Dezheng ordered the armor of the dead body to be stripped off and the body to be carried to the woods for burial. Then, he ordered everyone to change their armor and disguise themselves as escort enemy soldiers, and told the remaining coachmen to keep their mouths shut and let them drive the grain carts to march towards Zhangnanbao.

When they arrived at Zhangnanbao, it was already Shen Shi. The city gate was closed, and when the soldiers on the gatehouse saw the grain cart arrive at the city, some soldiers came down and opened the city gate. A city gate official came over and begged for Guan Wen. Zhang Dezheng took out Guan Wen and handed it over. The city gate official looked at Guan Wen, glanced at him and said, "Isn't this trip an old Song escort, how did you change people?" ”

"Oh, Lao Song has malaria and can't walk, so I'll replace him."

After hearing this, the city gate official nodded, returned Guan Wen to him, and waved his hand to let them enter the castle. Zhang Dezheng commanded the big cart to rush in, and when the last grain truck passed through the city gate, Zhang Dezheng nodded to the city gate official, and said with a smile: "Thank you!" ”

After leaving the city gate, Zhang Dezheng's heart fell in his throat. However, he had barely taken a dozen steps when a soldier suddenly caught up with him and shouted, "Stop, stop!" Zhang Dezheng turned around and was surprised: "What's wrong?" ”

"The commander ordered, and the grain cart rushed to the grain hoard."

When Zhang Dezheng heard this, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said: "Then bother you to lead the way in front." The soldier ran to the front of the convoy and directed the convoy to turn right and enter the grain hoard, where the grain wagons were all parked in the yard of the grain hoard.

Zhang Dezheng inquired about the location of the post station from the soldiers and led his men to the post station. After everyone settled down, he said to Mao Jue: "I'll take people out for a walk, you stay here, send people to watch those coachmen, don't let them go out and leak the news." Mao Jue nodded and said, "Okay, don't worry!" ”

Zhang Dezheng left the post house with Wang Wu and Gong Lin and walked along the street. Zhangnanbao is not very large, judging by the number of houses, there are about four or five hundred inhabitants. There is only one street in the castle, which leads from the north gate to the south gate, which is the official road that passes through the castle. The official road was three feet and five feet wide, the earth was compacted and extremely hard, and there were only a few shops on both sides of the street, all of which were now on the door panels.

They walked for a while and found a large courtyard not far from the road, with more than a dozen houses in the yard

There were two soldiers standing guard at the entrance of the sub-gate, and soldiers in armor came and went. Zhang Dezheng estimated that this courtyard should be the barracks of Zhang Nanbao.

They walked to the south gate and stopped, there were soldiers guarding the gatehouse and the city gate, in order not to arouse their suspicion, Zhang Dezheng did not walk over, just looked at it from a distance, and then whispered: "Let's go back." ”