Guo Ning climbed to the top of the slope and looked at the Gucheng store.
The evening wind blew through the forest, shaking the branches and leaves, making strange whining noises and crackling sounds of branches and leaves breaking. But Guo Ning still carefully controlled his steps to avoid making any noise.
Earlier, he retreated from the mountains into Hebei with a large number of defeated troops. He took the route from Qingbaikou to Zhuozhou, and then turned southwest along the mountainous area. Guchengdian was one of the routes.
More than a year later, he still has an impression of this settlement.
This area, close to the mountains in the north, produces many medicinal materials, so it was once the location of several major drug dealers in Zhuozhou. In addition, there are also wine shops in the villages and towns, which produce the famous shochu from all over the country.
The defeated army passed through this place the year before last. Hundreds of thousands of people had just suffered huge casualties. Under the terrible mental pressure, many people's emotions were wandering between mania and collapse. In addition, because of the lack of food and clothing, hunger and cold, military discipline deteriorated.
.
At that time, even Guo Ning himself couldn't help but rush into the home of a local wealthy family with others and forcefully borrow food with a knife.
After all, the officers and soldiers of the Jin Dynasty were not the legendary king's divisions. Don't even think about why they would freeze to death without demolishing their houses, or starve to death without looting. After Guo Ning, several groups of defeated troops passed by, and soon the entire village and town had ten rooms.
Nine empty.
It was not until last year that Han Renqing, a veteran soldier who was familiar with both Guo Ning and Li Ting, settled in the Gucheng shop and slowly gathered his military and civilian companions. Although the population was less than 20% of its peak, the scale of the village construction was far less than that of the past, but
At least a few paddy fields were reopened and a few cows were raised.
I heard that Han Renqing had recently recruited a big wine maker and planned to start selling soju again. Many people thought this idea was absurd, but it was a fact that among the general embarrassment of the defeated army strongholds, the Gucheng shop was considered wealthy.
Looking now, many people have died in villages and towns, and cattle have also died.
In the open space in the center of the village, corpses were piled up in random directions. They were far away and the sky was dark, so they could be vaguely distinguished, and they seemed to be both men and women.
There was actually a cow skeleton next to the corpse. The beef had been picked very clean, and the bones were white.
Next to the corpse, some soldiers were cutting beef; some soldiers tore down houses to use as firewood and were busy piling up a pile to light a fire; some soldiers gathered in groups, sorting out cloth and money that they had plundered from nowhere;
The soldiers were holding swords and axes, shouting loudly at a group of tied people by the wall, and making gestures from time to time, seemingly intimidating.
When he saw Han Lai'er's body just now, Li Ting was extremely furious. Now he had recovered and just cursed softly: "You kill someone and still eat beef! These bitches!"
Guo Ning patted his shoulder and told him to concentrate: "I've heard that the house in the Gucheng store was renovated by Lao Han. Now it seems that the inner and outer circles are indeed perfect. There is a high wall on the outer circle.
For shelter, there are ditches on the northwest sides of the high wall, and outside the main gate on the south side, there is a wall of sheep and horses, which is difficult to use with troops. As for the east side... there are fields in the east, and the terrain is open, and the high walls in this direction have collapsed everywhere..."
"One, two, three, three places." Li Ting reminded.
Guo Ning paused, raised his finger and pointed: "Look behind the big tree to the north."
Li Ting frowned and looked for a long time, then nodded slightly.
"Yang An'er's men poured in from these four places." Guo Ning continued: "There are about one hundred and fifty people staying in the outer circle. Among them, there are forty or fifty who are waiting in the open space to share the beef.
There are ten people guarding the prisoners. There are also sixty or seventy people sitting on the two terraces in the north and south. There are also a few people standing guard at the main entrance of the village. There should be a few more people a little further away from the main entrance."
Li Ting thought for a while and continued to nod.
"The rows of big houses in the inner circle are all on the north side of the open space. The three sides of the big house face inward, so you can't see clearly what's going on inside, and you don't know how many people there are. Fortunately, some soldiers are moving around the house. It seems that we were there just now.
The ones we met on the other side of the Qihe River?"
"That's right, they have one hundred soldiers. Plus the one hundred and fifty outside, the total is two hundred and fifty. They can fight a dozen!" Li Ting was eager to give it a try.
"It's almost the size of a general, well-equipped." Guo Ning said cautiously: "In addition, Bei Yunshang Village and Nan Yunshang Village, fifteen miles to the north, are also under Yang An'er's control. We have to move faster.
, Otherwise, we may be attacked by reinforcements.”
"Let Wang Shixian lead some people and pretend to be on the east side. I will lead the people and rush in from the main entrance. Guo Liu, you will follow. Within a moment, they will be defeated!"
Soldiers like Li Ting who had fought fierce battles along the trenches did not take the soldiers and horses transferred from Shandong seriously, but Yang An'er was not a trivial person after all. Guo Ning thought for a while: "Let's go back first and take a look.
Master Huifeng, have you gained anything?"
Li Ting frowned: "I wonder where Monk Luo went?"
"Master Huifeng has his own plans, let's go first." Guo Ning said: "Yang An'er's troops are not ordinary rebels. I guess there are hidden sentries on this high forest slope."
"Hey! You didn't tell me earlier!" Li Ting lowered his already low voice a little lower: "Let's go, let's go."
Guo Ning's judgment was correct. There was indeed a hidden whistle on Gaolin Slope.
Being on this slope, the line of sight is enough to cover the entire village, making it an excellent sentry location. If Guo Ning was stationed in the village, he would also set up a sentry on the slope. This is common sense.
However, there are miles of dense forest on the slope that blocks the view. From the top of the slope, it is easy to look down, but it is difficult to observe the surroundings. And because the night wind is picking up, it is also difficult to hear the movement nearby.
In this regard, Yang An'er's troops are ultimately lacking compared to the outstanding figures who have fought for the rest of their lives in Northern Xinjiang.
So Guo Ning and others retreated safely.
And just as the two of them were going down the slope, in the north of the forest, in a mountain depression that was more sheltered from the wind, Yang Feixiang, the secret sentry sent out by Ji Junli, stood up from the bushes, beat his waist, and shook his robe.
fallen leaves on the ground.
Yang Feixiang was from Zizhou, Shandong and a fellow villager of Guo Yao'er. They were about the same age. They both participated in the rebellion during the Taihe period and were both old thieves.
However, Guo Yao'er had the talent of marching and fighting, and he quickly became the leader of Yang An'er's retainers, while Yang Feixiang was always just a pawn. Moreover, he was still the kind that was not taken seriously by others.
Half an hour ago, he watched his old acquaintance Guo Yao'er lead his men into the Gucheng store, and then the soldiers in the village began to get busy.
He watched the soldiers killing cattle and sheep with knives and axes, watching the bonfires being lit, and the meat being thrown into the cauldron to cook, but no one came to replace him... Have you forgotten me?
When they distributed the money just now, they didn’t take my turn! They just handed me two banknotes! One was a ten-guan, and the other was a one-guan! What is it worth? The eleven-guan banknote could have been exchanged for a pancake last year.
, in the past two months, I couldn’t even exchange for a handful of brown rice!
There is beef to eat right now, but you won’t give it to me! Where is the person who changed the shift? Where did he go?
"When I get back down there, I'll go talk to Guo Yao'er! Ji Junli is not a good man, Guo Yao'er must give me a bite of meat!" Yang Feixiang complained, walked a few steps outside the mountain col, and walked a little.
Observe your surroundings.
Naturally, there is nothing to gain. The setting sun has already set at the end of the vast land. Within the scope of sight, large shadows are like ink and are about to become one.
He looked at it again and felt that the wind was strong at night, so he planned to hide in the woods in the col.
However, as soon as he turned around, he suddenly saw a fat, bald man with a round waist in front of him, smiling evilly at him.
Yang Feixiang was about to shout, but while the shout was still in his throat, a fist as big as a casserole hit the side of his neck.
He felt a sharp pain and fainted.
The bald man is Monk Luo.
Before he became a monk in Xuanzhong Temple, he served as a village envoy under the command of Qianhu in the north of Datong. He was in charge of a small village with not many people. However, no matter whether there was a large army sent out in Datong Prefecture, there were still a small number of elites who went to the grassland to reduce the number of soldiers.
He will lead his sons to serve as scouts.
After more than ten years of hard work, I don’t know if I have worked hard dozens or hundreds of times, I have perfected this skill. It is just as the art of war says: "See the traces of water, and you will know how early or late the enemy will attack; watch the movement of the trees, and you will know the arrival of the invaders."
It's so fast."
Looking for the secret sentry sent by the enemy in the dim night is simply impossible in the eyes of others. But in Monk Luo's eyes, the signs are clear enough to track them, but the only difference is how much time it takes.
At this moment, he succeeded with one blow and returned carrying Yang Feixiang. There was an extra person in his hand, but his steps were still light.
After a few steps across the Qihe River, I saw Li Ting coming up to me: "Monk, have you succeeded?"
Monk Luo raised the living person in his hand and showed it to Li Ting: "What's so difficult about this?"
After saying that, he punched the prisoner Youyou awake.
Guo Ning, who was behind, raised his voice slightly and said, "Master Huifeng, come and ask, as soon as possible."
Monk Luo didn't refuse, looked around, and then carried Yang Feixiang to the rocks beside a river.
After a while, he turned back. His two broad palms and arms were all dripping with blood. The gray shorts he was wearing were also stained with blood, and the fishy smell hit his nostrils.
There was obviously no sound, but I really don't know what he did to the prisoners to make the blood flow like this?
"How do you say? How many people are there in the village?" Guo Ning asked.
"First, 230 soldiers from Ji Junli's army entered the village. There were 80 soldiers in his army, all of whom were elites. Then they arrived at Guozhao'er, with 100 soldiers from his army, accompanied by Yang An'er's nephew.
, Jiulangjun Yang You."
Guo Ning was surprised.
"Fortunately, Master Huifeng is here!" He thanked him and looked at Li Ting, who also frowned.
The two of them have always kept a distance from Yang An'er's Tiewagang Army, but they have a basic understanding of it. They know that the organization of this army when it was recruited was the same as the armed guard army set up by Emperor Shizong in Daxing Prefecture in Zhongdu.
That is to say, one captain leads two generals, one captain leads ten lieutenants, one lieutenant leads a team of two, and one team leads twenty soldiers.
Because Army A is one to two, the number of troops under one general's command is usually about 250 to 300, of which Army Army is less than 100.
Yang An'er himself is the deputy capital commander, and his two commanders are Li Siwen and Liu Quan. The four commanders are Zhan Hui, Wang Min, Ji Junli, Wang Lin, and there is another one who has the same status as the commander.
Guozhaoer.
According to the strength of Han Renqing's troops, he could be wiped out by sending almost one general.
So the two of them thought that the person they bumped into here just now was a subordinate of a certain general who attacked the Gucheng store. But they never thought that there was actually a group of troops here too?
There are more than 300 people, and most of them are soldiers! Ji Junli and Guo Yaoer are both here!
