Zuo Mingchan found a small ditch to wash his face, then sat down on the edge of the ditch and took a few breaths. During these days, he followed him too hard, eating and sleeping on the way, and that group of people were too cunning, so that Xiaoqi School, who they followed, often couldn't eat for a day or two, and they might not be able to find a place to stay.
Sleeping in the wild, eating wild fruits, not changing clothes for many days, the smell on his body is even unbearable to him. However, this harvest did make him a little happy. Who would have thought that the people who traded with foreigners were not people from the Mu family, but Luo Tu's rebels
Zuo Mingchan faintly felt that Luo Tu must have some important purpose in purchasing the firearms that he was looking at, and this purpose can be deduced without too much effort. If Zuo Mingchan's speculation is true, then in a short time It is said that the purchase of firearms by the Luo Tu rebels has no direct relationship with the Black Banner Army, but this does not mean that there will be no relationship in the future.
He looked back, and there were four people left beside him.
There were not many people in the Xiaoqi School in Muping City, and several groups were sent out to investigate. The team he personally led followed the caravan, leaving Muping and rushing here all the way. Now they are isolated and helpless. the point. The strength of the Black Banner Army is limited to the southwest of the Sui Dynasty, and even if they leave the Southwest Xiao Riding School, no matter how elite they are, they will fight alone.
"Group rate."
Niu Gen, who was only twenty years old, leaned over, took out a piece of hardened steamed bun from his arms, and handed it to Zuo Mingchan. Zuo Mingchan took a look and shook his head: "I'm not hungry."
Niu Gen chuckled and gnawed on himself.
He held the steamed bun in one hand, and picked up the fallen steamed bun residue with the other hand, chewed and ate it slowly, and then licked the steamed bun residue with the other hand. For the cherishment of food, the people in Xiaoqi School understand better than most people.
"Shall we go into town?"
Niu Gen asked.
"Not for the time being."
Zuo Mingchan lay back on the grass, looked at the sky and said, "Little Duzi and Da Lei estimate that it will take at least one and a half months to get back, and the reinforcements sent by the guardian will take three months at the fastest." Come. I figured that the people from Muping would come sooner. When I followed halfway, I sent people back to transfer some of the remaining people. If there is no accident, we can arrive within ten days. Now we With a single hand and this desolate look, if you can't enter the city, you will be detained."
"Then what are we doing now?"
Niu Gen asked.
"Wait..."
Zuo Mingchan was silent for a while and said: "We watched the batch of firearms enter the city, and the goal of the first step has been achieved. Knowing whose hands the firearms fell into is crucial for the Black Banner Army to face this army in the future. Very helpful when you are in the team. I tell you, you have done a great job. With the temperament of the lord, each of you will get a big reward."
"Hey... I don't know whether to reward a woman or not."
Niu Gen giggled silly.
Zuo Mingchan rolled his eyes at him and said: "Now we are guarding outside the city. Later, the four of you will be divided into two groups, and two people will go out to find food. Don't arouse other people's ideas, and come back when you find food. You know why I chose to stay Are you staying here?"
"have no idea."
Several others shook their heads.
"Since Luo Tu bought firearms, he must train soldiers. He didn't dare to expose the firearms in advance, so if he wanted to train the soldiers of the firearms battalion, he had to choose a secret and quiet place. I have seen the terrain near Liuzhou City. , this is the most suitable place. If there are no accidents, the people in the city will soon come out to practice using firearms. The mountains are densely forested and soundproof. I guess Luotu's firearms battalion will not come out every day and go back every day. .”
"That's too ostentatious, so Luo Tu will definitely let the firearms battalion station in a suitable place, train every day, and not return to Liuzhou City. If my guess is correct, then we will wait for the firearms battalion to come out, and then monitor... How many troops, how many firearms, how to train, we must figure out these things."
After Zuo Mingchan finished speaking, he looked at the four people under his command: "At least we have to work hard for about ten days before the backup from Mouping arrives. You just keep going."
Niu Gen stretched his crotch and said with a smile, "There's nothing you can't hold on to, but this underwear really needs to be changed. I reckon that if I take off the underwear now, I can poke it on the ground. Damn it, the testicles will be worn out." Skinned."
Zuo Mingchan laughed and said, "Your skill is not strong enough."
Niu Gen said solemnly: "I'm young... I'm big... and my skin is thin!"
Everyone laughed and lay down on the grass to rest. At this moment, Xiaoqi School, who was in charge of the lookout, suddenly made a gesture, and everyone stopped laughing immediately. After getting up, they quickly ran to the edge of the forest, climbed up the big tree, and looked into the distance as directed by the lookout.
I saw a team coming out from Liuzhou, a mighty team, the scale should not be less than 10,000 people.
"It looks like it's coming this way. Damn, this scale is enough for 10,000 people, right?"
"should have."
Zuo Mingchan raised his clairvoyance and looked at it, then he was stunned for a moment: "No, this team is not a firearms battalion, they are all lightly packed, they don't bring food and grass, and there is no carriage in the team. They should just go out of the city to train, be careful Hide them so they don't get discovered."
"Here."
Everyone responded and moved towards the densely branched trees.
…
…
Mu Li looked back at Liuzhou City, and then heaved a long sigh of relief. He knew that he had made the right bet, Ye Jinnan did not betray him. Now that the team had left the city, it did not arouse Tu's suspicion. After all, this is just a routine training out of the city, and every battalion is doing this, so there is nothing to doubt. And in order to ensure that he could leave safely, he only discussed this matter with a few trusted old subordinates. He, a soldier, Mali knew that no more than five people would leave today. Mu Li is confident that none of these five people will betray him.
Now the soldiers don't even know what it means to go out of the city for training. In order to ensure safety, Muli only let the soldiers carry one day's rations, not even the clothes. This will not attract the attention of those under Tu's men, which is of course a disadvantage, because this team of more than ten thousand people has no food for tomorrow.
"The general..."
Hao Ren, his trusted general, came over and said in a low voice, "Your subordinate has already found out that ninety miles east of Liuzhou is Dongge Town, a large town with a population of tens of thousands. We will be able to arrive there, and then we will be able to replenish supplies from the eastern towns."
"Take the team away first."
Mu Li said in a low voice: "Before it gets dark, the purpose of coming out cannot be told to the generals below. After a while, you send someone to inform the generals of each battalion, tell them to practice light and fast marching today, and they must cross Tennuo Mountain before dark , After passing the mountain, you will find the towns in the east. At that time, you will not be allowed to kill people or rob money, only food! Mules, cows and horses, and large animals that can be used will also be taken away!"
"Here."
Hao Ren nodded: "Don't worry, General, we will definitely do this well."
Mu Li sighed: "If it wasn't for the fact that the current Luo family army has changed beyond recognition, I don't want to take this step. Now the surname of this army is not Tu, but Luo. Those old brothers who lived and died together are gone, so nostalgia, a little nothing."
"General, where are we going?"
"Go east first, then turn north at Weixian County, and drive all the way to the bank of the Yangtze River, making Tu think that we are going to cross the Yangtze River to the north to join the imperial court. After arriving at the bank of the Yangtze River, immediately walk east along the river, so that we can Bypassing the armored army of the imperial court and the army of Tonggu Academy, sneaking through the cracks, and then heading east all the way to Luoshui. If we are lucky, we can collect enough fishing boats to cross the river. If we are not lucky, we can only Try to find a place to stay."
"And after crossing the river?"
Hao Ren asked: "Crossing the river from that place is Xinyang. Tian Xin has been killed by the Black Banner Army. Xinyang City is now the territory of the Black Banner Army. Let's go there..."
"At that time, I will ask my brothers again. If they don't want to fight anymore, they will naturally go back to their hometown in Yongzhou and exchange our armor and horizontal knife with Fang Xie for a hoe. He should not embarrass us. If the brothers don’t want to go back, then turn north into Mount Mangdang. Three thousand miles from east to west, hiding ten thousand of us in Mount Mangdang is nothing.”
"Huh."
While talking, Hao Ren was suddenly surprised: "Something is wrong!"
He pointed to the front: "Why is there a flag on the Tennuo Mountain?"
Mu Li's complexion changed, and he quickly raised his clairvoyance to look over the mountain.
At the same time, the expression of Zuo Mingchan, who was hiding on the big tree, changed involuntarily, and quickly gestured for everyone to hide. Niu Gen was the closest to him, wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, "Damn it! There's already a team in this mountain, we didn't realize it!"
Zuo Mingchan said: "I was negligent, I actually forgot one thing... This batch of firearms is the last batch. When we interrogated that Russian man, he said that this time the buyer asked for 3,000 firearms." Twenty cannons, several batches of goods have been delivered before... How can I be so negligent, before this, Luo Tu must have sent people to train in the mountains!"
"fortunately."
Niu Gen wiped his sweat and said, "Look, the flag is ten miles away from us."
Zuo Mingchan looked at the flag on the other side of the mountain, then at the team in the city and couldn't help frowning: "It seems that something is going to happen."
…
…
"Don't stop, keep going."
Mu Li looked at the flag on the other side of the mountain and said: "Maybe it's another battalion that came out to train, don't show anything. Go ahead and pretend like nothing happened!"
Wasn't he nervous when he said this? Now his subordinates don't even know that they are going to defect, so naturally they won't be nervous. Only he and his subordinates who know the situation are nervous.
Hao Ren patted his face to force himself to relax, and urged the team to move on.
There are several roads to go through Tennuo Mountain, but this is the closest one to Liuzhou. If you turn back now, it will definitely arouse suspicion from others, so Mu Li can only bite the bullet and go forward. The only thing that made him feel more at ease was that there were not many flags down the mountain, and there should not be many people. The more than ten thousand people under him are all veterans brought out from Yongzhou, and they have full experience in fighting on the battlefield.
foot of the mountain
There is a reclining chair under a big tree. On the stone next to the reclining chair is a crystal clear bottle. The bottle contains wine that looks like agate. Not only the wine bottle, but also the wine glass is so beautiful. The butcher lying on the recliner played with the wine glass, shaking it slightly, watching the color of the wine, couldn't help admiring: "The foreigner's stuff is really exquisite, what is it called?"
One of his generals quickly bowed his head and said, "Glass."
"Well, it's beautiful."
Tu waved his hand, and on the hillside, a row of artillery was lined up neatly.
"Tell them to shoot more accurately, wasting shells, and I'll cut off all of their heads and replace them with a group of people. The things I bought at such a high price are much more valuable than them."
"Here."
His subordinates hurriedly went to give instructions, and a trace of fear flashed in their eyes when they turned around. He didn't dare to look at the people coming from the opposite side, because he knew that they would all become mutilated corpses in a short time.
"If I don't get rid of those people who have been with Luo Ziqi for too long, I really won't be at ease."
Tu smiled, and took a sip of the agate-colored wine: "Bah... so it's so bad!"