When Liu Da'er led people to chase them to the north gate, there were still the figures of Zan Wanshou, and even the dozens of soldiers guarding the city gate were gone. At this time, it was the height of summer in May, and there were small forests everywhere outside the wooded Meizhou City, and it was easy to hide, and I couldn't see Zan Wanshou fleeing there. On the one hand, he had to send people to mobilize troops and horses, and urge the cavalry to come quickly, and on the other hand, he sent people near the north gate to explore the traces of Zan Wanshou's whereabouts. After searching for a long time, his own soldiers brought out a shivering servant from the drainage ditch at the base of the city wall.

The little official recounted what he had seen in a trembling voice. He was about to leave the city on official business, but when he arrived at the north gate, he found that the city gate was closed, and when he was about to return, he heard shouts of killing behind him, so he hid aside and saw the situation clearly. First, when Zan Wanshou and his party fled to the city gate, the captain of the city guard ordered the city gate to be opened. It's just that the city gate is extremely heavy, and it can't be opened in a hurry, and a large group of pursuers came from the rear, and the number of chasing soldiers was several times that of Zan Wanshou's guards. Seeing that the two sides were about to fight, one of the wounded soldiers in Zan Wanshou's guards suddenly rushed towards the pursuers. Due to the suddenness of the incident, by the time the pursuers exclaimed, the wounded soldier had already jumped into the crowd, and a huge explosion broke out. The pursuers were blown down in a large area, and those who were not blown down scattered in a hurry, and they all pulled their legs and ran back.

At the same time as the pursuers fled, the gates were opened. The captain of the city guard did not stop Zan Wanshou and his party, but shouted loudly: "Brothers, let us escort Zan Wanshou out of the city together", and the soldiers guarding the city followed him out of the city gate and escorted Zan Wanshou and his party to the north. It was from that shout that he knew that the group of soldiers was guarding Zan Wanshou. He knew with his eyes that the wounded soldier under Zan Wanshou was covered with round iron balls. Although the explosion knocked down many of the pursuers and shattered the wounded soldier to pieces, the still intact head fell at his feet, and he was so frightened that he hurriedly hid in the drainage ditch. He was also frightened by the fleeing pursuers, who he heard crying loudly as they ran, "They are not people, they are ghosts."

Liu Daer had already learned that Zan Wanshou and his entourage had fled north, so he immediately ordered someone to chase him. The official road from Meizhou City to Pengshan City was built on a small basin and a small plain between low mountains and hills, and the road was flat and very conducive to cavalry movements. But Zan Wanshou and his entourage obviously will not take the official road, but will take the path on the mountainside or ridge. Therefore, Liu Daer sent 100 cavalry to pursue along the official road, and ordered another 500 soldiers to pursue along the path. In May, western Sichuan has entered the rainy season, the ground is overgrown with weeds and the soil is also wet, Zan Wanshou and his party are numerous, and they will inevitably step on the grass stems or leave footprints on the ground, just follow the trail and chase it.

Hearing the sound of horses' hooves getting closer and closer, Company Commander Ding's heart was happy. At this moment, they were advancing on the ridge path, and below was the official road leading to Pengshan. After escaping from Meizhou City, they hurried for several miles before crossing the wide flat land to reach the low hill on the edge of the city. Although the mountain was low, it also made it impossible for the pursuing cavalry to do anything, and those cavalry had to dismount and fight on foot if they wanted to attack them, which was obviously not a good choice. Company Commander Ding only needs to continue along this low mountain for more than ten miles, and then pass through a small mountain basin to reach the boundary of Pengshan Mountain. However, to reach Pengshan City, you have to continue to pass through two small basins and more than ten miles of mountain roads.

Let Company Commander Ding be glad that the north gate was opened in time. Before he went to Meizhou with Zan Wanshou from Jiading, there was a "fire fox" in the city that sent information from the staff headquarters, saying that Liu Daer might do something to Zan Wanshou, and in case of emergency, he could break through to the north gate and go to Pengshan City. At the same time as he received the order, the "Fire Fox" of Meizhou City was ready to respond. The captain and his men who were guarding the gate were also members of the Firefox, and when they saw the Perak soldiers escorting Zhan Wanshou to the north gate, they ordered the gate to be opened.

There were more than 90 people who escaped from Meizhou City, including more than 30 soldiers who followed the city. These soldiers defending the city were already very resentful of Liu Da'er's behavior of surrendering to Mengmeng, and when they saw that the captain and the gang leader were going to escort Zan Wanshou to Pengshan City, they all followed at the moment. In addition to these soldiers guarding the city, the hundred-man guards who followed Zan Wanshou from Jiading were only more than 50 people left, of which there were more than 30 Perak soldiers left, and there were only more than 20 guards led by Hou Xing, and more than 40 people were killed in the battle. Unlike Liu Daer's men, most of whom were killed and wounded by grenades and ammunition, most of the Perak soldiers and Zan Wanshou guards who died in the battle died under the bows and crossbows, and only a small number died under the grenades of the Meizhou army.

Fortunately, how to get rid of the pursuers and return to Pengshan safely is an urgent problem. Although the cavalry on the official road could not go up the mountain and could only follow below unhurriedly, a large number of Meizhou infantry troops chased from afar on the mountain road in the rear. There were more than a dozen wounded guards who escaped from Meizhou City, although they were all slightly injured by crossbow arrows, but with the loss of blood and sweat, the speed of these wounded had begun to slow down, and some still needed someone to support them to follow the team. Although the pursuing Meizhou infantry is still a few miles away, at the current speed of travel, it will not be long before they will catch up.

The tradition of the Perak Army is not to leave a single comrade-in-arms, and it is impossible for Company Commander Ding to leave the wounded in order to flee for his life, so he decides to leave behind to block the pursuers. Compared to the enemy's crossbow, the powerful grenade with a wide area is more suitable for mountain warfare, and it can slow down the enemy's advance speed by simply throwing it at a narrow part of the mountain road. The only problem is that the grenades have been almost used in the breakout, and there are only a few dozen left. Zan Wanshou and Hou Xing agreed with him, but they disagreed with Company Commander Ding himself. Both of them are not pedantic and conservative people, and they are new to social officialdom, and they are not too affected by the concept of hierarchy, but they still believe that dignity and inferiority are orderly, and Company Commander Ding should not risk his life.

Although Zan Wanshou and Hou Xing are not the bosses of Company Commander Ding, they belong to the government after all, and their grades are much higher than him. Therefore, Company Commander Ding thought for a while and proposed a compromise plan, that is, Hou Xing escorted Zan Wanshou in front, and he himself took the wounded forward, and did not choose to send three or five elite soldiers to block the attack in the rear, so as to gain time as much as possible. As soon as he escaped from Meizhou City, he had sent soldiers with fast feet to return to Pengshan to report the emergency. Before Yu San returned to Pengshan from Jiading, he told him that the special forces had sent cavalry to be stationed at the junction of Pengshan and Meizhou, and that they could quickly come to help in case of emergency. Zan Wanshou and Hou Xing saw him make such an arrangement, so they also agreed.

"Lord Hou, through this small basin, and then over that low mountain, is the boundary of Pengshan Mountain," said a Thunderbolt soldier who led the way, pointing ahead to Hou Xing. At this moment, it was almost dusk, and everyone was exhausted, but fortunately, Company Commander Ding sent soldiers to throw grenades in the back. The sound of the grenade explosion was reassuring, although it did not kill or injure many pursuers, but it also frightened the enemy, and he cowered all the way, and the speed naturally slowed down. At present, Zan Wanshou and Hou Xing, who were marching the fastest, had reached the edge of the hill, while Company Commander Ding was more than one mile behind with the wounded soldiers, and the pursuing soldiers were still two or three miles away.

Only, how can you cross the flat basin below and reach the opposite hill safely? Hou Xing looked at the small basin in front of him, and then at the enemy cavalry following unhurriedly on the official road below, and couldn't help but feel anxious in his heart. He looked back again, and now the pursuers on the mountain road were getting closer and closer, and they would chase after them in a few moments.