Night shrouded the earth, it was dark outside Guancheng, and there was not a trace of light on the vast grassland.
On the city wall, Fan Wenshao persuaded Su Lu: "Master Hou, please wait until dawn before setting off. Marching all night is a taboo for military strategists."
Su Lu sighed: "I always feel that something is wrong. The whole camp is out. I am not optimistic about this battle."
Fan Wenshao nodded: "Your Majesty, your instinct is for the general, but the general sending troops is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you don't seize this opportunity, General He will definitely regret it for the rest of his life."
Su Lu nodded. Xiao Cong was also a general who had fought with Tule for many years. He would not fail to see some clues. He hoped that his intuition was wrong this time.
"Well, I won't send anyone to General Xie, but the left army still needs to be mobilized, firstly to prevent Thule from having any real plans, and secondly, to act as a deterrent to Thule."
Fan Wenshao was a little embarrassed: "Master Hou, I asked you to escort the grain road to Yumen this time for another purpose.
I would like to ask you to escort the food and grass to the camp. The last few batches of food and grass were also robbed. If the food and grass don't arrive again this time, the camp will be short of food."
"Among the generals, you are the only one who can safely escort the grain route to the camp."
Su Lu nodded: "Okay, I'm going to Yelang Camp anyway, so I'll just escort him there."
The next day, at dawn, Su Lu was called out by Fan Wenshao.
Fan Wenshao held a defense map in his hand, showed it to Su Lu and said: "Master Hou, this is the topographic map from Yumen to Diaoyin, the military stations you can stop at along the way, and the military stations that were attacked several times before.
place."
Su Lu took the defense map and glanced at it. He had a rough idea in his mind. Judging from the terrain, the road this time would not be too difficult.
Fan Wenshao continued: "The news came from the camp that in order to ensure the smooth flow of the food route, General He personally led two guard camps to sweep the area from Yelang Mountain Pass to Wuzhangyuan. As long as they reached the Wuzhangyuan military station, the food team was safe.
"
Su Lu nodded, picked up a pancake, stood up and said, "Then I'll leave as soon as I finish eating, and try to reach Wuzhangyuan before tonight."
After having breakfast and setting off, Su Ping stood beside Su Lu and talked about the movements of the guard camp.
"Sun Goudan and the other civilians don't want to escort the grain and grass to Yelang's camp. I have already asked them to leave. Naturally, they will lose their share of the money."
"The grandson of Lao Fan actually retreated. The dignified Lieutenant Zhiguo, the commander of the transport camp and the seventh-grade officer, actually tried to escape from the battle, but I dealt with him well."
"Nannizi Cao Hua insisted on coming. I originally wanted to keep her, but she knew you were going too, so she refused to stay."
Su Lu nodded and gave instructions: "Has the money gained from destroying the bandit stronghold been distributed? It's not a good journey for us. We have to go to Wuzhangyuan Military Station before we can be considered stable."
Su Ping nodded: "I have sent out the scouts. Ten miles ahead, Lao He has set up five groups of scouts to ensure that nothing happens."
Although the load of the grain team was heavy this time, due to the threat of the Thule people, the march was very fast. The peasants, who were usually very considerate of the pack horses' physical strength, kept whipping their whips on the pack horses.
In the morning, we finally arrived at the first military station.
"In the morning, the Thule Army passed by from the north and tried to attack the military station twice, but then retreated without success."
The captain of the military station looked at Su Lu eagerly and said.
Su Lu's expression was a little gloomy. There were also Thule soldiers here. It seemed that He Geng had really only raided the section from Yelang Camp to Wuzhangyuan.
"Leave a cart of grain and grass for them, and tell the brothers to eat quickly, and continue on their way after eating."
Su Lu ordered Lao Fan.
After hearing Su Lu's words, the commander of the military station became happy.
Old Fan drooped his face and looked sad.
"Yes, Lord Marquis. But there are Thule soldiers in front of us, should we still go?"
Su Lu nodded: "As long as we get to Wuzhangyuan, it will be fine. The place was just raided by General He Geng and his army."
Lao Fan felt sad and comforted himself: "We will definitely make it to Wuzhangyuan."
After eating dry buns and drinking hot soup, the food team continued on their way.
Su Lu sent out all his scouts this time, covering almost all the areas ahead, to guard against the passing Thule army.
In one afternoon, the scouts issued six early warnings. Relying on the early warnings, the food team successfully evaded the Thule army.
Before it was dark, the food team finally arrived at Wuzhangyuan Military Station.
When the captain of the military station saw the continuous supply of grain trucks, he shed tears of excitement and grabbed Lao Fan's hand: "You are here."
"Dear relatives, we broke off two days ago, but you are here. Lao Fan, you are my brother, and your ancestors have been my brothers for eight generations."
Lao Fan almost got into a fight with the commander of the military station. He wouldn't have cursed like this.
Su Lu asked the commander of the military station: "Wang Cheng, how is the battle going these days? Are there any Thule soldiers passing by?"
Wang Cheng’s head shook like a rattle:
"No Thule soldiers passed by.
The battle situation is not bad, the camp has fought against Tuledo in the past few days, and there have been wins and losses. We just need to wait for the Marquis's food team. With the food team, we can take down the Tuledo camp in one fell swoop."
Su Lu felt relieved after hearing this. It seemed that Lao Hegeng had really cleaned up the place thoroughly. At least the road from Wuzhangyuan to Daying was safe.
He ordered Su Ping to tell Lao Fan: "Bury the pots to make rice and leave a cart of grain for the military station. We will rush to the camp overnight to deliver the grain to the camp."
Old Fan was unhappy: "Master Marquis, we have been on the road for a day, and the wind is very noisy. Let the brothers rest here for the night. Anyway, the camp is not short of food for this day."
Su Ping slapped Lao Fan:
"Why is your grandson acting like a mother? Let me tell you, the camp will not be short of food for the day. Wouldn't it be safer for us to stay in the camp? We won't be afraid of an army of 100,000 Thule."
Lao Fan rubbed his head and thought for a while, it seemed that this was indeed the case, and followed Su Ping to arrange military affairs.
A curl of green smoke rose from the military station, and the aroma of food began to come from the pot.
The peasants had finished unloading the fodder from the packhorses, and the packhorses that were pulling the carts had also been untied. They were gathering in a group, snorting and eating the fodder. The peasants, holding food bowls in their hands, gathered in a pile and told dirty jokes.
Wang Cheng, who was discussing the war with Su Lu, kept glancing into the camp of the gang leader army, as if he wanted to eat steamed buns right away.
"Boom"
With an iron spoon in one hand and an iron pot in the other, the old man knocked the bell to attract everyone's attention, and with a shout, dinner began.
Soon, the people who had received the steamed rice spread out and squatted next to the gangtou army tent and began to eat, with the sound of snoring everywhere.
Lao Wang held the bowl in one hand and skewered two stick noodle buns on the chopsticks in the other hand. He took a sip of the vegetable soup in the bowl. Lao Wang asked Su Lu.
"Master Marquis, we have finished transporting grain this time, do we still want to pay out money?"
"I thought about it and found out that the silver that has been given to me is more than thirty taels. If you give me another ten taels, I can give my eldest daughter a nice silver jewelry, so that my daughter will not be angry at Lao Huang's house.
."
Su Lu glanced at Lao Wang in surprise. This old guy was so generous in order to marry his daughter. You must know that it was forty taels of silver, which was a lot of money. In terms of daily expenses, it would be enough for their family for more than ten years.
Seeing Su Lu's gaze, Lao Wang chuckled:
"To be honest with Mr. Hou, my daughter is considered to have married into a wealthy family. The old Huang family is rich and powerful. I am really afraid that my eldest daughter will be bullied in their family."
Su Lu nodded, pitying the hearts of parents all over the world.
"Buzz"
The sound of the hammer suddenly rang in Su Lu's ears.
Su Lu turned around and saw an arrow flying towards him, his pupils gradually getting bigger...
