The three of them rode across the river and returned to the other side.
Han Xu looked at the rolling river and asked urgently, "Marquis Wen, even if they leave by boat, I will definitely chase them back."
Lu Bu nodded, "Okay, you can lead a group of soldiers and horses to search along the river. Even if you can't catch them, you still want to know where they went?"
Han Xu responded hurriedly and led his troops to rush downstream along the river.
Chen Gong looked at the faint mountains in the distance and sighed. Just as he was about to speak, his heart suddenly moved and he hurriedly lowered his head to look at the ground.
Seeing this, Lu Bu asked tentatively, "Mr. Gongtai, is there something wrong?"
Chen Gong raised his head and looked at the mountains in the distance again, with a flash of light in his eyes, and murmured, "Marquis Wen, I understand."
Lu Bu was even more puzzled and asked hurriedly, "Mr. Gongtai, what do you know, tell me now?"
Chen Gong pointed his whip at the ground and said slowly, "Marquis Wen, the traces of the carriage disappeared here. We guess we should have left by boat, right?"
Lu Bu nodded, "That's right. Is there any problem?"
Chen Gong suddenly said, "Marquis Wen, the traces of the cart have disappeared here. There is another possibility, that is, to return the same way."
Hearing these words, Lu Bu suddenly froze, looking at the ground with burning eyes, and suddenly reacted.
"Mr. Gongtai, do you mean to say that they did not leave by boat, but returned along the same route, so we did not find any trace of the carriage?"
Chen Gong nodded, "We also said just now that there are many hitchhikers. If they are all taken away by boats, too many boats will be needed. And this is our territory. They want to place too many boats. It is simply impossible.
Possibly.
Since the cart was not pulled away by the ship, they can only return the same way to prevent us from discovering their true traces."
Hearing this, Lu Bu raised his head and looked at the mountain shadow in the distance, and suddenly sneered, "Since they are going back, they must be hiding in this mountain."
Chen Gong nodded, "This place is surrounded by mountains, full of woods, and the terrain is not steep. It is indeed the best place to hide food."
Lu Bu snorted coldly, "Since we know they are in the mountains, well, let's go now. I want to see where these rats can hide?"
When Chen Gong saw that Lu Bu was about to give an order, he hurriedly waved his hand, "Marquis Wen, wait a moment, you must not do it."
Lu Bu was stunned and asked doubtfully, "Mr. Gongtai, why not?"
Chen Gong sighed, "This matter was obviously done by people sent by Cao Mengde. If we send people to look for it now, once they discover it, the consequences will be disastrous."
Having said this, Chen Gong smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Marquis Wen, food is flammable. If they find out that we are looking for them, wouldn't it be extremely bad if we set fire to the food and burn it?"
Hearing this, Lu Bu couldn't help being surprised, "Mr. Gongtai, what should we do?"
Chen Gong frowned and said slowly, "It's getting late now, and it will get dark soon. Let's pretend to return first, and then send people to the mountains to search.
After we find the food, it won’t be too late for us to find a way to get it back.”
Lu Bu turned his head and looked in the direction of the mountain and snorted coldly, "Then let them live a little longer. When they find food, they won't leave anyone behind."
……
In the dark blue sky, there are many stars, and a bright moon hangs in the middle, illuminating the entire earth.
The night wind has cooled and swept over the hillside, making the leaves rustle.
Deep in the mountains, in an inconspicuous place, a small bonfire was lit. In order to hide it, the surroundings of the bonfire were specially covered with branches to prevent it from being seen from a distance.
In this forest, there is a 1,500-man army hidden in the woods. The leader of this army is Li Zheng from the Cheng family.
After learning about the plan at that time, Li Zheng took the initiative to ask for a fight and promised that he would never go back if he did not complete the mission.
Li Zheng is Li Dian's younger brother. When Cao Mengde came to Yanzhou, Li Dian took everyone there.
Li Zheng has also been serving as Li Dian's deputy general, working in the army.
Everything was going well at first. With his martial arts, brother Li Dian was appreciated by Cao Mengde and was reused. It was the time when the spring breeze was proud.
But unfortunately, Li Dian was killed during the battle between the two armies.
Whenever he thinks of this incident, Li Zheng's heart feels like a knife. At that time, he was not far from Li Dian and witnessed what happened.
If he hadn't known that he was not Lu Bu's enemy, Li Zheng would have rushed forward to take revenge.
At that time, Li Zheng was already petrified, and he dared not go there.
But after the incident, whenever he thought about it, Li Zheng felt regretful in his heart. He hated himself for not rushing to avenge Lu Bu at that time. He hated himself for being cowardly. Li Dian was so kind to him, but he couldn't even avenge him.
I don’t even dare.
Gratitude that is heavy in my heart will gradually become lighter with the passage of time.
However, the longer the time goes by, the heavier the hatred will become.
Whenever he thinks about this, Li Zheng feels like a stone is pressing in his heart, making him unable to breathe.
Li Zheng punched a tree next to him, gasping sharply and grinding his teeth.
"Little Lu Bu, I must take revenge."
Li Dian took more than 1,000 people to seek refuge with Cao Mengde. Up to now, after several battles, only more than 700 people are left.
And these more than 700 people were all brought out by Li Zheng to complete this task, and now they are all hiding in the woods.
Just when Li Zheng was secretly sad, there were hurried footsteps outside the woods. Li Tian, who went out to inquire about the news, hurried back.
"General Li, great, Lu Bu is gone."
After hearing the news, Li Zheng perked up and asked hurriedly, "Li Tian, have you seen clearly, is Lu Bu's son really gone?"
Li Tian is also a child of the Li family of the Cheng family. He is very clever, so he is responsible for inquiring about information.
Li Tian nodded, "General Li, don't worry. Lu Bu'er led his soldiers and horses along the rut to the river. After walking around there, he divided up another group of soldiers and horses to search downstream and led the troops himself.
You can’t go wrong returning to Puyang.”
Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, "You mean, Lu Bu sent troops to look for it downstream?"
Li Tian sneered, "Lu Bu, this idiot, thought we really transported the food away by ship. Let him find it. I wonder when we can find it again?"
Li Zheng nodded, but felt a little worried, "Li Tian, are you sure that Lu Bu's troops have really returned?"
Li Tian nodded, "Really, there is absolutely nothing wrong. This time, everyone can sleep peacefully."
Only then did a smile appear on Li Zheng's face, "Okay, everyone has worked hard these days. Let everyone have a good rest. In addition, we must send people to look out. Don't let the enemy get close. If you haven't discovered it yet, then go out."
It’s fun.”
After everyone heard what Li Zheng said, they burst into cheers. A soldier came over and asked with a smile.
"General Li, since Lu Bu's son doesn't know we are here, let the brothers light a few more fires to warm themselves up. It is indeed a bit cold at night. Do you think that's okay?"
Li Tian waved his hand and said with a smile, "Lu Bu's son is gone, so what else is there to be afraid of? Besides, it's no problem if anyone from this mountain will come."
Hearing these words, Li Zheng frowned, looked at everyone's eager eyes, and nodded helplessly.
"Okay, everyone, try to be careful and keep the fire as small as possible, do you understand?"
Although it will soon be May, the nights in the mountains are still a bit cold. The most important thing is that in order not to be discovered, we dare not light a fire to keep warm. Even if there are a few bonfires, they are mainly for cooking and boiling water.
Use it, otherwise, even this fire will not be lit.
Everyone burst into cheers, and immediately looked around for branches and started to light a bonfire. After a while, the cool night became warmer.
Li Zheng sat in front of the bonfire, feeling warm and comfortable and wanting to sleep.
Li Tian came over, handed over a water bag in his hand, and said in a low voice, "Here is wine, drink some to warm yourself up."
Li Zheng frowned and was about to speak when Li Tian lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, others don't know."
Li Zheng looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so he took the water bag and drank it slowly.
It had been a long time since I had drank, and Li Zheng was also a good drinker. It didn’t take long for the two of them to drink a water bag of wine.
Seeing that nothing happened, Li Zheng put down the water bag and said, "I'm going back to sleep, you continue."
Li Zheng stood up and suddenly remembered something. He turned his head to look at Li Tian and lowered his voice and said, "Li Tian, tonight, take some brothers to look at the grain. Don't let anything happen."
Li Tian smiled and waved his hand, "Don't worry, let me handle this matter. I can't go wrong."
Li Zheng still remembers it very clearly. When he came out, his master had given him very clear instructions.
After grabbing the grain, they secretly transported it back to the mountains and hid it.
After the incident has passed, we will slowly transport the grain to Juancheng.
Finally, he specifically told Lu Bu that if the food hidden in the mountains was discovered, he would immediately make a decisive decision and burn the food.
If you can't get it yourself, you can never let Lu Bu get it.
Li Zheng knew very well that the credit for transporting the grain back must be much greater than burning the grain.
Nowadays, there is a shortage of food everywhere. If we can transport the food back, maybe we can get the official position that Li Dian once had.
Thinking of Li Dian, Li Zheng felt a little sad. He patted Li Tian on the shoulder and slowly returned to his tent to sleep.
Everyone knew that Lu Bu had led his troops back to the city, so they felt relieved. Only a few sentries were left behind, and the rest went to rest.
The location chosen by Li Zheng was halfway up the mountain. In the woods, there was a mountain col. All the food was hidden in that mountain col.
The grain is hidden very well. If you look at it from a distance, you won’t be able to see the grain in the col unless you look carefully.
Li Zheng was a little drunk and fell asleep in a daze, but he didn't know that in this mountain, there were countless people who did not sleep, but went up the mountain cautiously.
At the foot of the mountain, Lu Bu and others stood in a forest, listening to the news from the spies.
Chen Gong stood aside, frowning, and he was really worried.
You have found the enemy's location, but you haven't found where the food is?
It was late at night, and Lu Bu, who was already a little sleepy, was suddenly shocked when he heard the news from the spies.
"I have found food and stayed in a col in the woods."
Chen Gong also heard the news and hurriedly grabbed the spies, "How many people are guarding that mountain col? If we rush over, is it possible that they will light it on fire?"
The spy cupped his hands and said, "The col is in the woods, with one side leaning against the mountain, like a ravine, and the defenders are on the two roads of the ravine.
If we are discovered by them from a distance, they do have a chance of catching fire."
Hearing the spy's reply, Chen Gong frowned. After thinking for a long time, he turned his head and cupped his hands towards Lu Bu, and said slowly, "Marquis Wen, since there is a ravine there, let's divide our troops into two groups and attack at the same time.
, try to prevent them from lighting the fire."
Lu Bu nodded, "Han, please take your troops and horses up the mountain from the other side, and I will take my troops and horses up the mountain from this side.
When the time comes, we will sound the arrow as a signal and take action at the same time."
A ringing arrow is an arrow that makes a sharp whistling sound when shot.
Although the enemy will notice the sounding arrow after it is fired, there is nothing we can do about it and we can only choose this method.
Han Xu's eyes were full of excitement, and he hurriedly raised his hand, "Marquis Wen, please don't worry, we will get the food back no matter what this time."
Lu Bu nodded, "Remember, this time it's not about charging into battle, but we must not let them discover it in advance, otherwise, all the efforts will be wasted."
Han Xu handed over his hand again, then turned and left, leading his troops towards the other side.
Looking at Han Xu's leaving figure, Chen Gong suddenly raised his hands and said, "Marquis Wen, if you attack from two ends, they will definitely be defeated. There may be fish that slip through the net. I'll wait for them here."
Lu Bu nodded, "In that case, you have to be careful."
After several inquiries, Lu Bu already knew how many enemies there were on the mountain. He also knew that once they were defeated, considering the direction of the mountain col and the place where the enemies rested, they would have to go here if they wanted to escape.
Since everyone was going up the mountain, Lu Bu did not ride a horse, and he did not use his own sword, Fang Tianhua Halberd. He just took a big sword and led the people towards the mountain.
Although there was a bright moon illuminating the sky, it was night after all, and we were still walking on a mountain road, so the speed of going up the mountain was not fast. In order to prevent the enemy from discovering it, everyone made a large circle, trying their best to bypass the enemy's resting place and headed towards the mountain col.
Rush in the direction.
The terrain of the mountain col is low. Lu Bu led his people from one side and rushed over. Before he got close, he smelled a burning smell. From a distance, he saw several bonfires burning in the woods above the mountain col, illuminating the mountain.
I saw the figure of the soldier next to me.
The spy quickly came to Lu Bu's side and said, "Inform Marquis Wen. After passing through the woods in front, we arrived in front of the mountain col where they hid their food."
Lu Bu waved his hand and said, "Send the order and tell everyone to stop for a moment and pay attention to hiding. They must not be discovered."
After receiving the order, everyone did not dare to neglect and hid in the nearby woods.