"What do you want to do?" Zhou Che asked in a deep voice. He had actually already guessed it.
Li Hui whispered: "The pine forest on the hillside below is very easy to catch fire. There are thick pine needles in the forest. It is hot and dry right now, and the fire will spread quickly. Once we set a fire, the other party will either be burned to death, or they will be forced to live alone."
Can evacuate.”
Zhou Che breathed a sigh of relief, and he guessed it. He also thought about this method, but he didn't dare to mention it.
This is indeed an excellent way to break the situation. Once the pine forest on the hillside catches fire, it will be a huge fire. The other party will have to be forced to evacuate, otherwise it will be reduced to ashes. However, the consequences will be serious.
Li Hui's voice sounded softly, with a little helplessness: "But once we set the mountain on fire, we ourselves will be in an extremely dangerous situation. They can escape, but we cannot escape from the top of the mountain. Because there is only one way left for us.
The escape route on the west slope. We escaped from the west slope, and they were waiting for us below. After the fire spread, we had no chance to leave. Therefore, I don’t want to do it unless it is a last resort."
Zhou Che understood what Li Hui meant. Once a forest fire breaks out, although there are no trees on the top of the mountain, the high temperature and smoke will wrap everyone inside, making it difficult to survive. If you want to survive, you must escape from the top of the mountain as soon as possible.
But if you want to evacuate the top of the mountain, you can only escape to the west where there is no fire. In fact, no matter which direction you evacuate, you will eventually be forced by the fire to evacuate to the west toward Hefei County. And that must be the enemy's evacuation route.
If you encounter the opponent directly, that would also be a bad outcome.
"What I mean is, stay on the top of the mountain to avoid the fire. The top of the mountain is not small. When the fire breaks out, it will not be able to burn the top of the mountain because there are no trees here. The only concerns are high temperature and smoke. If we can think about it
If you find a way, you may not be able to escape the fire." Li Hui said solemnly.
Zhou Che frowned and thought: "You can build up the stones on the top of the mountain to form several stone walls to block the high temperature. It is best to dig a pit and hide all the people in it, so that you can avoid being burned by the high temperature.
, and can prevent smoke from invading. Because the smoke floats high, it will not be deposited at the bottom of the pit. When the wind blows, it will be washed away and dispersed."
Li Hui nodded and said: "I think so too. If we can dig a big hole, even if it's only a few feet deep, and add a few stone walls to block the scorching heat, we will be able to get through it. In just one night, all the mountains and forests to the east will be burned.
After that, the threat from fires in the forest on the side is not that great."
Zhou Che nodded and said, "I think it's okay. The stones on the top of the mountain can be moved, which means that the stones on the surface are all loose. With everyone's efforts, we should be able to do it."
Li Hui laughed and said: "Since my brother also thinks there is something to be done, then what are you waiting for? Just do it. Whether it is life or death, you always have to take a gamble. It is better than sitting back and waiting for death."
Soon after, more than two hundred people on the top of the mountain were woken up and gathered together. Li Hui ordered Zhao Dachun, Guo Dazhuang, Jiang Sheng and others to bring all the water bags over, and asked them to take out small wooden bowls for eating and give them to
Each person poured a full bowl of water. Dozens of water bladders were empty after the water was poured out.
Everyone was very surprised. Did County Magistrate Li get the water? He actually divided all the water. But it is impossible. Where is the water on the top of the mountain?
"Drink, I know you are all very thirsty. Drink," Li Hui said.
Everyone's mouths were dry and their bodies were extremely short of water. Without thinking much at the moment, they all drank the water in the bowl. At this time, the water in this small wooden bowl was as good as nectar.
It was like jade dew. Many people sighed with satisfaction when they drank it, as if they were drinking the most delicious soup in the world.
After drinking a small bowl of water, their thirsty bodies were replenished with water, and many people immediately became energetic.
Li Hui said: "Everyone, what you drank is our last bit of water. I am sorry to put you in such a situation. Now there are enemies at the foot of the mountain, and we are trapped here. When the sun rises tomorrow, it will be hot again.
The weather was so bad. We didn’t have a drop of water, so we had no choice but to wait for death and rush down the mountain to fight the enemy."
Everyone was shocked, panicked, and at a loss. It turned out that what they just drank was the last water. County Magistrate Li drained the water to prevent everyone from dying of thirst. When they thought of the weather during the day, everyone despaired. But suddenly
If you go down and fight for your life, wouldn't it be to die? In short, you are dead.
"Everyone, you can't get through it. If you rush down, you will die. But we can't sit still and wait for death. Therefore, we must take risks. Please trust me, Li Hui, one more time. I will definitely be able to get you out of trouble. Maybe we can get out of trouble tomorrow.
, it depends on whether you are willing to believe in me and whether you are willing to work harder in the end. If you are willing to believe in me, then follow my instructions. Everyone, are you willing to fight with me to survive?
"Li Hui said in a deep voice.
At this time, there was no hope, and no one had any objections. No matter what they thought in their hearts, they could only listen to Li Hui's instructions at this time.
At that moment, Li Hui revealed his plan of setting fire to the mountain, and everyone was dumbfounded. Setting fire to the mountain would certainly be able to defeat the enemy, but wouldn't all of them also die here?
Li Hui gave a solution. Build two firewalls, move the big rocks on the top of the mountain near the west side, pry up the stones on the ground, and dig a big pit for everyone to take shelter. When the fire breaks out, I hope to save my life.
.
Everyone had doubts about this method, but at this moment, there was no reason to refuse. Because there was no way out, no way out. Li Hui asked them to drink all the water, and on the one hand, they lost their persistence.
Maybe, secondly, it just makes them more energetic to work. This person always leaves no room for retreat and makes all-or-nothing efforts.
Without any objection, Li Hui immediately ordered the action to begin. After demarcating the locations of the two fire-proof walls and the locations of digging pits, in addition to the manpower to guard the enemy, the remaining two hundred people were divided into two teams.
start to act.
Building a stone wall is quite simple, after all, there are a lot of stones. Just pile it up to a wall half as tall as a person. The main thing is to use the reflection of the stone wall to block the heat, so as to prevent the high temperature from burning to death all the people on the top of the mountain.
But digging a hole is not that simple. Without tools, we can only use manpower to dig out huge rocks piece by piece from the ground and move them away. Fortunately, there are still some cut tree trunks on the top of the mountain, and fortunately, the stones on the top of the mountain are not completely connected.
Some of them are in a state of being stacked up in pieces. After hollowing out the surrounding area with a weapon, it is still feasible to use a dozen wooden bars to pry it up and to pull it out with ropes. However, there are still a large number of stones connected into a whole, which is impossible.
More than a hundred people were exhausted and spent an hour digging, but made little progress.
Li Hui immediately changed his strategy and asked everyone to dig out only individual boulders, so that stone pits and a small connecting tunnel could be formed. A large pit is not necessarily needed, as long as someone can stay in it.
Another hour passed, and finally dozens of pits and tunnels of different sizes and depths were dug out in an area of fifty or sixty paces surrounded by two half-man-high stone walls. Some were shallow.
It is half a person deep, and can be as deep as one person deep. A long tunnel can hide dozens of people, and a small tunnel can only accommodate one person.
At this point, everyone is exhausted and can dig no more. And Li Hui also knows that time is running out. It is already the fourth day of the night, so he takes advantage of the night wind to set fire. The fiercer the fire, the faster it will burn out, and the sooner it can end.
All of this. The faster the fire burns, the shorter the pain for everyone. Even if they all die here, the long-term pain is not as good as the short-term pain.
Li Hui ordered everyone to stop, cupped their hands and said: "Everyone, whether you live or die depends on God's will. Everyone is ready to enter the pit. Remember, lie down at the bottom of the pit and don't move. The smoke will not go to the bottom and will stick to the ground.
You will not be affected by the smoke. You can cover your mouth and nose with clothes to avoid inhaling black ash. In short, we must endure it. I believe we can survive."
Everyone nodded silently and prayed secretly. Now that the matter was over, they had no other thoughts. If he died, at least there would be a hole to bury his body. Just dig his own grave.
At the fourth watch, the stars are twinkling and the night breeze is refreshing. It is the most comfortable time in summer. After the hustle and bustle on the top of the mountain calms down, the entire Nianzi Mountain becomes quiet and solemn.
Li Hui, Zhou Che, Dachun Dazhuang and others stood on the steep slope on the east side. The dim land in the distance was pitch black. But Li Hui could smell the fragrance of ripe wheat. The sun was hot these days, and the wheat grains were accelerating.
Ripe and full, it exudes a unique fragrance. It is the taste of survival and the unique smell of pleasant food.
"If we can pass this level, I will use the wheat gathered on the railing to make thousands of pancakes and cook dozens of pots of fragrant noodle soup for everyone to eat." Li Hui said softly.
"My mouth is watering." Zhou Che said with a smile.
Dachun Dazhuang smacked his lips and said, "That's enough to eat more than a dozen pieces of cake and drink several large bowls of noodle soup."
Li Hui laughed heartily. After the laughter stopped, he shouted in a deep voice: "Dachun Dazhuang, let's start."
Zhao Dachun and Guo Dazhuang agreed in unison. Not only did they drink water, they also ate dry food, and they also gained strength. Their task at this moment was to throw the incendiary can into the pine forest at the foot of the hillside and light a fire.
Jiang Sheng and one of his men lit the incendiary canisters for the two of them. Zhao Dachun and Guo Dazhuang held the lit incendiary canisters and ran forward for more than ten steps from behind. They then threw the incendiary canisters far away while making a sound.
In the darkness of the night, two burning cans traced a long trajectory, flew out from the top of the steep east slope, and landed far below the hillside. In this throw, the two of them used their full strength, and they were condescending, and the throwing distance was actually as far as
A hundred steps away.
The incendiary tank exploded after falling to the ground, and a fire instantly ignited on the ground. Li Hui and others stared at it, unable to see clearly when the stone was thrown into the pine forest at the foot of the hillside. The fire on the ground was bright at first, and then dimmed. Everyone felt sorry for a while, and saw
It didn't fall on the ground of pine needles in the woods, so it had no effect.
Li Hui was waiting for the two of them to throw it again, but he saw the dim fire below suddenly rise and rise in an instant. The dead pine needles were rich in oil and soon burned with a crackling sound. The flames quickly spread and expanded, gradually turning into a raging fire.
Zhou Che nodded slightly and said softly: "It's done. Brothers, it's time for us to hide. Everything depends on God's will."
Li Hui smiled and said: "Yes, once the fire starts, it can't be extinguished, and it can't be turned back. Everyone, please go into the pit and protect yourselves. We will meet again after the fire."
Everyone's mood was complicated, and there was an indescribable sense of tragedy. Such behavior was comparable to suicide. But it was helpless to light this fire. Now that we were at the end of the road, we could only make a desperate move.