When the first fire broke out in the bandit camp, not many people paid much attention.

After all, the weather is dry and the wind is not low. With so many people camping, they have to light countless bonfires to heat up their meals to prevent them from catching cold after falling asleep, so some small fires are completely expected. Even in the evening,

When we started lighting bonfires, there had already been a few cases of accidentally igniting nearby crops. However, the crops were only a shallow layer, and there were many irrigation ditches and water networks in the area, so they did not spread. A few of them did not spread.

The few people who were caught by fire were nothing compared to the casualties suffered during the Hundred Days Cavalry's tail-cut assault.

It can only be said that if there is a fire, we should avoid it. At most, we can dig a trench, shovel a piece of crops and cut it off, and it will be over... Moreover, we have been continuously attacked by cavalry with cut tails, and their morale is low. The leaders have their own thoughts. The following is

The so-called bandits and soldiers are also homesick, who cares about this?

But, turn back to the present.

When some of the strong men of the rebel army were awakened from their sleep, they easily extinguished a fire in the crop field, then cursed the careless daredevil for not watching the fire, and prepared to go back to rest, but they didn't even have time to return.

The second and third fires appeared in the camp.

One is also in a crop field, and the other is in an independent small camp.

The rebels who had already been awakened by the first fire quickly put out the two fires, but were already breaking out in a cold sweat... Because at this time, most of the people who had been awakened were already suspicious, and some words began to be whispered.

It was passed on among the township party members.

Could it be someone's intention?

Did a spy get in?

Otherwise, how to connect the fire?

In this case, the people involved in putting out the fire remained calm and took the initiative to comfort others, because from their point of view, the two fires were accidents and there were no traces of human ignition.

But these are meaningless anymore.

Before the discussion had subsided, the fire suddenly exploded... In the temporary camp, which was so huge that it was difficult to calculate the specific area, there were fire heads everywhere. There were also many fire heads outside the camp, most of them in the sorghum fields that were about to mature. Only a few officers could

Fires broke out inexplicably in the tents where we stayed.

Even a few scattered trees were on fire, like torches, illuminating the road like daylight under the twin moons.

This doesn't count, because the number of fire heads is still growing rapidly at a scalp-numbing speed.

This scene was enough to send the already frustrated rebels into panic.

However, someone soon saw the truth with their own eyes.

In a small camp to the east of the camp, a group of thieves from Boping County, Qinghe County were awakened by the surrounding noise and were gathering around the campfire according to the order of their leader Han Erlang. This former camp commander

, the little leader of the bandit army who participated in three marches to the military city of Dongyi, and then escaped halfway, has sufficient military experience... When the first one got angry, he didn't react much, but the second one

After the third fire started, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

This is not a question of whether it is reasonable or not. There is a powerful enemy army hiding in Douzigang, and they have attacked many times in two days and defeated our own side. It is wrong to have a fire at this time, okay?

Therefore, after the second and third fires were extinguished, Han Erlang had successfully gathered dozens of his fellow villagers together, and began to prepare armor and distribute weapons.

"Don't panic, take your time, wear whatever you have, grab your sword and gun, carry food on your back, and don't alert the second leader Wang over there, he is the big leader's confidant..."

Han Erlang yelled loudly, but at this time, the flames behind him had begun to appear again, and more and more of them were coming. Although it was somewhat expected, he couldn't help but panic, and quickly called someone's name. "Where's Lao Wu? Lao Wu

!Zhang Laowu!”

"Here you are, Brother Han!"

A middle-aged man hurriedly came out of the queue. He was slightly hunched due to too much weight, and his pair of spears were shaking all the time. Under the double moon, his originally dark face was also reflected by the bonfire and the fire in the distance.

The redness, only the wrinkles are clearly visible... This person is obviously older than Han Erlang, but he still calls the other person second brother. "Why do you call me second brother?"

"Why are you carrying so many ears of wheat? If you are trying to escape... throw them down!" Han Erlang took a closer look and immediately got angry. It turned out that the reason why the other party was slightly hunched over was actually carrying a large bundle of wheat ears.

.

"They were all cut off when we set up camp, and they all turned into ears..."

Zhang Laowu was quite reluctant to leave after hearing this, but under the opponent's angry eyes, he carefully placed a large bundle of wheat ears on his back on the ground in front of him seven or eight steps away from the bonfire, and then came back immediately according to the opponent's training rules.

Stand still and continue to look at your leader nervously.

It can be seen that this Zhang Laowu is very obedient to this Han Erlang.

"You said before that your uncle's home is in Dongguang County, Pingyuan County, right?" Han Erlang lost strength in the middle of his scolding and just asked, "Have you been here several times?"

"Yes, I come here every year from Dongguang. I usually walk along the Zhang River, but I also pass by Douzigang... Mainly to buy private salt here before going home. It's cheaper here."

Maisui, Zhang Laowu's back straightened up slightly, and his tone became much smoother.

"Who cares if you buy private salt...you know the way back to our hometown from here, right?"

"I recognize it."

"You also know the way to Dongguang from here, right?"

"I recognize it too."

"That's good." The surrounding area became more and more chaotic. Han Erlang breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at the others, and then looked at Zhang Laowu. He was really too lazy to cover up anything. "Let's not move now. It will be a little more chaotic when we wait, so we should just keep our heads down."

Let’s go, you, the fifth one, will be the guide, go to Dongguang County first, go around there, and then go home... Do you understand?”

"I know." Zhang Laowu swallowed. "Let's go to my uncle's house in Dongguang first."

"Yes, that's what I mean." Han Erlang sighed, looked at the various faces around him again, but they were all full of fear, and seriously warned. "If you can trust me, Han Erlang, please sit down now.

Calm down, wait for me to observe the situation, and say let's go, let's get up and follow Lao Wu! Just follow what I usually teach you, one by one, don't cross over, just keep up with the person in front quickly! There is no other way, let's go

It would definitely not work if we were caught up by the officers and soldiers and squeezed in by other people if we were too late; but if we left early, we met the big leader’s trusted soldiers, and I was afraid they would also be beheaded. As I said just now, Wang Er is the leader of Zhang Da.

All your confidants...sit down first!"

It may be that Han Erlang's calmness infected these people, or it may be that Han Erlang has always been honest and prestigious, but the dozens of villagers around him actually kept quiet, and then sat down together in the chaos, staring at each other.

Han Erlang standing by the campfire.

Han Erlang was still going to speak. Suddenly, he realized that the people in front of him were not continuing to look at him, but looking at something moving. He followed the gaze of these people, but was surprised to find that...

At some point, a crow appeared with flapping wings only about ten steps away from him, jumping around strangely.

Han Erlang was speechless for a moment and wanted to drive the crow away.

But before he even lifted his feet, he was stunned, because this experienced military leader and dozens of his subordinates clearly saw that the crow was blowing with a gust of wind without even getting close to the campfire.

, actually started to smoke under the double moon.

Moreover, as the man rolled and got into the sheaf of wheat, sparks began to flash, and an open flame appeared out of thin air in front of dozens of people.

Not to mention, the crow that got into the wheat ears and caused the open flames did not seem to be dead. Instead, it struggled and screamed, rolled violently with the wheat ears and the open flames, and directly threw it under the axle of the cart beside it, causing the fire.

the spread of.

The axle is made of solid wood, which is not easy to ignite. At this time, as long as one person goes up, kicks the wheat ears into the bonfire, and stamps out the crow balls under the cart, everything will return to normal.

However, none of the dozens of people who discovered the truth took action. Instead, they all stood in strange silence for a moment.

Then Zhang Laowu suddenly stood up, pointed at the fire under the car with his eyes wide open, and started to tremble: "Second brother, let's, let's go! This is the official army who has invited Master Heidi, and Master Heidi wants to help.

The officers and soldiers burned us! Let’s leave quickly!”

After saying this, Zhang Laowu seemed to want to do something, but he was sweating profusely, at a loss, and even had a slight lack of coordination in his movements.

Han Erlang, who seemed to have caught something in his heart, vaguely guessed that this had nothing to do with the Black Emperor. I'm afraid it was just a thing that could be broken with one poke. And even if it was really related, the one who started the fire should be the Red Emperor. It was just that he was honest.

I didn't understand what was going on... so I scolded him.

But for some reason, Han Erlang opened his mouth, but still couldn't scold him.

On the contrary, when the words came to his lips, Han Erlang, who also started to tremble all over, actually shouted out a sentence of relief to himself: "Let's go! Lao Wu leads the way! Let's go!"

Zhang Laowu, who was originally stiff, felt as if he had been granted amnesty when he heard these words, but he did not hesitate. He held a spear, raised his head, and puffed out his chest, and walked quickly to the northwest according to Han Erlang's usual teachings.

Walking towards that place, it was in the direction of his uncle's hometown, Dongguang County. Han Erlang led a group of villagers who stood up and followed silently, not caring that the wheel axle of the cart beside him had been set on fire.

.

This was not over yet. Just after walking out of this small camp, suddenly, there seemed to be a faint sound of drums accompanied by the trembling of the earth from the direction of Douzigang in the north. Han Erlang, who was completely panicked, could no longer control himself and immediately shouted loudly:

"The officers and soldiers are here! Cheng Dalang is here again! Lao Wu! Walk faster, don't run! If you run, you will step on your own people!"

As soon as he said these words, Wang Laowu in front immediately put a spear on his shoulder and started walking quickly towards the northwest with his head held high. Behind him, Han Erlang and other companions also followed suit, carrying weapons and flying

Run and follow.

At this time, as if in response to the sound of drums and horse hooves, the entire camp, in all directions, inside and outside, all the crop fields seemed to be on fire. The fire was not big, but once it was involved in the crop fields, it could immediately cause a fire. The wall of fire, which is not high, sweeps across wantonly.

When the wall of fire swept away and cut off the line of sight, the shouts of killing were heard again, as if an unknown number of officers and soldiers from Douzigang had rushed towards them.

The whole process sounds quite complicated, but in fact it was just a quarter of an hour when the crows couldn't bear the pain in their feet and the fire started.

"Master Zhang!" Looking at the thief camp that was obviously in chaos, Cheng Dalang took a deep breath and immediately came with the dragon horse under his crotch. "Although the thief army is large, the matter has been decided! I, General A, The cavalry will stay with Third Master as escort, please continue to lead the infantry to continue the sweep, and then I, Leader Guo, and Leader Niu will each lead their light cavalry and pass by from both sides!"

"Okay!" Zhang Xing responded immediately in the light of the fire, but then turned back to look at each other. "Cheng Mingqi, Zhou Xingfan, you two start from the two ends, I will be in the middle, and we will press forward together! If you see any tents that are not on fire along the way, throw down the torches! When you meet the rebels, tell them to surrender without killing them! But they ignore them and sift them through first!"

The leaders received the words and saw that the fire attack was so effective. They did not hesitate and immediately acted on the words, and all the ministries immediately advanced.

Among them, hundreds of armored cavalry left by Cheng Dalang surrounded Zhang Xing and kept moving forward like an arrow in the middle. Although there were only three thousand infantry behind him, they advanced like a forest; there were hundreds of light cavalry, including some of the cavalry that had just surrendered, including donkeys and horses. Under the leadership of Cheng Zhili, Niu Da and Guo Jingke, they surrounded them from both sides like the wind.

For a time, no one in the rebel army dared to challenge them. Instead, they fled directly to the north, trampling on each other and killing more than the casualties in the battle formation.
To be continued...