Zhou Che was angry because this group of big families refused to cooperate at all and refused to help. There were originally more than ten big families, and each family had more than a hundred people, but they were obviously unwilling to use their full strength. Zhou Che
After all the talk, only sixty people were gathered together, so I was a little angry.
Li Hui laughed it off. He knew very well that it was unrealistic to expect all these people to help. It was good to be able to call more than sixty people.
After all, this group of wealthy people is self-interested. He relies on coercion to force them to submit. They are obviously unhappy. Unless they can be convinced, it is impossible to actively cooperate.
With the addition of more than sixty people, the strength has increased a lot. Because these people are all the guards of the rich family, they have some fighting ability. Some even wear half armor and have weapons, which saves a lot of money.
Few things.
You must know that half of the more than 100 people in the volunteer group have no weapons and only carry weapons such as sharpened sticks and pitchforks.
Li Hui knew that although the entire force now numbered more than 250 people, its overall combat effectiveness could not be expected. If Shouchun's one or two thousand rebels really crossed Nianzi Mountain and entered Juchao County,
I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop it head on.
Li Hui actually had no idea at all. His only hope was to delay them and distract them until the soldiers from Liyang County and Lujiang County arrived.
The combined soldiers of the two counties should be two to three thousand, and they may be able to fight. I hope Wang Muzhi and the Lujiang County Governor will not turn a deaf ear, and hope that they will send troops in time.
Juchao County was about a hundred miles away from the railings in the northwest. Time was tight, so everyone marched in a hurry. At Chen hour, after traveling more than sixty miles, they arrived near Lugao.
Seeing that everyone was tired, Li Hui ordered them to rest for a while, drink water and eat to replenish their strength. The mules pulling the cart also needed water and food. This place was less than forty miles away from the railing set, and it was estimated that they should be able to arrive at noon.
Zhou Che seemed to be tireless and took advantage of everyone's rest time to patrol back and forth, check everyone's conditions, and cheer everyone up. When checking the vehicle, Zhou Che found that there were more than 20 wooden barrels covered under the tarpaulin of the large vehicle.
, it filled two cars. When I got closer and smelled it, I also smelled a strong smell of alcohol.
There was also a cart loaded with some slender clay pots. They were the kind of slender clay pots used to pour wine and warm it in hot water, but they were only about the size of a fist.
Zhou Che was very puzzled. These were all loaded into the truck by Li Hui last night. Zhou Che originally thought they were some food supplies and didn't ask much at the time, but now he was a little confused.
"Your Excellency, County Magistrate, what is loaded in the car? If the official read it correctly, you loaded dozens of barrels of wine? You even loaded a truckload of wine cans." Zhou Che couldn't help but ask Li Hui.
.
Li Hui gnawed on a piece of noodle cake, smiled and nodded: "Your nose is very good, it is indeed wine."
Zhou Che said with a smile: "Could it be that the county magistrate was so confident in defeating the enemy that he even brought a celebration drink for everyone? Drink to celebrate after the victory?"
Li Hui chuckled and said, "Where did you think you were going? That's not wine, that's combat supplies."
Zhou Che was even more confused, blinking his eyes and said: "Please... invite the enemy to drink? Let them get drunk and we will do it?"
Li Hui laughed even more, shook his head and said, "Does Lieutenant Zhou still remember the batch of spirits we seized from the bandits' lair on Laoshan Island years ago?"
Why didn't Zhou Che remember? He nodded and said, "Isn't that the wine in the car?"
"Exactly. The dozens of barrels of wine seized are pure liquor. You can drink it after blending, but if not blended, these wines can be excellent combat materials. Think about it, what will happen after these wines are ignited
What?" Li Hui whispered.
Zhou Che suddenly realized that spirits are comparable to fire oil and can burn when lit. These pure spirits are as sharp as a knife in the mouth and have extremely high concentration. They are excellent as a fire starter.
"But...how to use it? You can't splash it on the enemy. How to use it in combat?" Zhou Che was a little unable to turn around.
Li Huidao: "That's why I bought all the thousands of ceramic wine jars from several wine kilns in Nancheng last night. Fill the jars with wine, seal them with mud, hang a cloth strip and light them, and then you can throw them."
Dozens of steps. If it hits someone or the ground, the pottery pot will be broken, and the strong wine will be scattered. A drop of wine is a ball of fire. Do you understand?"
"Ouch!" Zhou Che slapped his thigh and shouted, attracting everyone's attention.
"What a brilliant idea. What if it hits you and burns you? Oh my god, Lord County Lord, you can actually come up with such a brilliant idea. I'm really impressed. You have it.
With this thing, we have a good chance of winning." Zhou Che praised.
Li Hui waved his hand and said: "Don't make any noise, and don't have too much hope. There are some conditions required to use these, and we will discuss them later. In fact, this is not a temporary idea of mine. When I got these spirits, I thought
You can use it to defend against enemies. Of course, wine is best used for drinking. Wine is so expensive, and I don’t want to waste it like this. Isn’t this about facing enemies? I can only take it with me and give it a try. In short, I hope
It might have an effect."
Zhou Che said repeatedly: "It must be useful, it must be useful. It has to be you. I never thought that I could do this. I admire it, I admire it."
Li Huixin said: It's just a Molotov cocktail. What's so great about it? In later generations, countries were in turmoil, and street thugs threw this thing around because it was simple and easy to make. But there is no gasoline here, so we can only use spirits. But we don't know how effective it will be.
, I tried one myself, but it was very hot. I don’t know if it is useful or not.
After a rest, everyone went back on the road. Since they were very close to the railing set, Zhou Che suggested that the action be divided into two teams. He would lead 30 strong county soldiers in the front, and Li Hui would lead a large group of carriages and horses in the rear.
, when encountering a situation, it is best to respond in time to avoid being caught off guard.
Li Hui thought it was feasible, so he divided his troops into two teams and advanced north.
After walking less than ten miles, Zhou Che suddenly rushed back from the front with more than a dozen people. Li Hui hurriedly ordered the carriages and horses behind him to stop. When Zhou Che and others came closer, they realized that only a few people were following him.
There were county soldiers and seven or eight men, women and children, who looked like local people.
"Lieutenant Zhou, what's wrong?" Li Hui asked hurriedly.
Zhou Che said: "I have important information to report."
Li Hui's heart trembled. Zhou Che pointed at Li Hui and said to the common people: "This is my magistrate Li, Juchao County. I will tell you the situation in detail."
When the common people heard that the young man in front of them was County Magistrate Li, they knelt down and kowtowed.
"Magistrate Li, you are here, please save us."
Li Hui saw them carrying large and small bags, as if they were fleeing, and felt a little cold in his heart. He said in a deep voice: "Everyone, please get up, where are you from? What happened?"
One of the people, who was in his fifties, shouted: "We are all from Bananji, I am from Tangjiawa Village. We heard the news that many thieves were preparing to cross Nianzi Mountain to burn, kill and loot. They have already
Many people on the other side of the mountain were killed and all the wheat in the fields was robbed. We in Tangjiawa were at the foot of the mountain and we didn’t dare to stay there. So several families in our village ran away. Our family
The young man has run twenty miles and is preparing to go to Sujiawan to join the child's parents' family."
Li Hui said in a deep voice: "Are you sure that the bandits have passed Nianzi Mountain?"
The commoner said: "I heard it from Tang Laizi in the village. He went up the mountain to cut firewood early in the morning and saw hundreds of bandits crossing the valley, standing on the hillside on our side and pointing at the wheat fields on our side.
He hid in the woods and heard them say that he would come to us when the wheat fields on the other side of the mountain were all harvested. The wheat fields in Hefei County on the other side of the mountain had almost been harvested, and it only took half a day. Tang
As soon as the lame man returned to the village and told him, everyone ran away."
When Li Hui heard this, his expression was solemn.
After pondering for a moment, he waved his hands and said, "Let them go and give them some food."
After several people left with a lot of thanks, Zhou Che said in a deep voice: "As expected, we are here, so we have to be extra careful. Magistrate Li, please stay still. I will lead someone to touch and have a look."
Li Hui thought for a while, shook his head and said: "If the rebels' one or two thousand people have already passed Nianzi Mountain, there is no need to go there. There is no way to fight if they go there. But I think we should still have a chance.
The best place to stop them is the mountain road of Nianzi Mountain. Didn't you say that if you want to cross Nianzi Mountain, you can only come from the mountain road?"
Zhou Che nodded and said: "Yes. Although Nianzi Mountain is not high, it is more than twenty miles across. The hills are rolling and the mountains are full of weeds and trees. Either take a detour or come from the mountain road. If
If we take a detour, we will have to spare dozens of miles. The official has made it very clear in the past few days."
Li Huidao: "That's it, they decided to take a shortcut. If they can't take the mountain road, how can they take a detour of dozens of miles? They know that there are no soldiers and horses in Juchao County and Hefei County that can fight them, otherwise they would not dare to drive hundreds of people from Shouchun.
They came here to grab food. So they would definitely come through the mountain road. The only place we could stop them was on the mountain road. When we got to the railing market, there were large flat wheat fields, and there was no good place to fight them. So we
We must act as soon as possible.”
Zhou Che frowned and said, "That's a bit dangerous. If we bump into their large army of soldiers head-on, we won't be able to escape."
Li Huidao: "Didn't you hear what the people said? The rebels who wanted to grab food only sent over a hundred people. I guess they were here for reconnaissance. They didn't want to disturb the people gathered on the railings, so they didn't come down the hillside. Because they needed to
Time. The wheat over there in Hefei County must not have been harvested yet. They have to harvest it, transport it, and protect it. Most of the soldiers and horses are doing this. When all the wheat over there is harvested and transported, they will be free.
They all came to the mountain to take action. They needed to capture local people as coolies for harvesting and transportation. That’s why they secretly investigated. I think we have time."
Zhou Che thought for a moment and said, "What County Magistrate Li means is that we march quickly to get in front of them, block the mountain road and ambush them?"
Li Hui nodded and said solemnly: "Exactly. I want to bet that they haven't come yet."