After marching for two hours and twenty minutes, everyone arrived at Zhangpan Village. Company and platoon immediately dispersed to expand the warning area. The second platoon set up sentry posts and set up a cordon with wood and stones.

The brothers of the Third Company, led by Captain Chen Zhibiao, the commander of the third company, Captain Li Guang, the company deputy, and Staff Sergeant Han Yaoxian, the instructor, put down their bags and immediately used tools to demolish pieces of the rotten wooden bridge deck. In less than ten minutes, two large piles of bridge decks had been turned into

The firewood burning under the big pot of the third company's cooking team left more than twenty bare pillars standing in the river fifteen meters wide and more than one meter deep. The brothers then began to rest and wait to fill their stomachs.

The second company continued to run forward, passed through the village, and set up camp at the east bridge under the astonished gaze of hundreds of villagers. The second company commander, Captain Cai Guangqing, and the company deputy, Captain Mu Zhuiyi, were still sweating profusely, and immediately summoned the platoon leaders of each platoon to attack the four soldiers.

The dry river bed more than ten meters wide and the surrounding forests were surveyed, and the workload was quickly calculated and assigned tasks. The instructor, Warrant Officer Qian Bojun, led two brothers from Jiangxi into the village to do his inspections and comfort and other work to close military-civilian relations.

Huzi and An Yi were looking around in the small courtyard of the ancestral hall in the northwest of the village, listening to Huzi's report as they walked. An Yi was very satisfied after learning that Xia Jian's police platoon had been divided into five groups and went to investigate in all directions ahead.

After Huzi finished speaking, he pointed to the empty ancestral hall and said it could be used as a temporary camp headquarters. The big camphor tree in the small courtyard blocked out the sky and the sun. It was at least three hundred years old, which was very rare.

An Yi echoed, but both of them were very surprised. They couldn't figure out why there was nothing in this ancestral hall. Except for the couplet "descendants of Yunzhengxiaweiqi" engraved on the pillars of the ancestral door, other things such as tablets could not be found. The entire

The ancestral hall seems to have been moved.

Half an hour later, Qian Bojun, the instructor of the Second Company, came to report. An Yi and the two finally figured out that the peasant association in the village had held several criticism meetings in the past few months. The ancestral hall belonged to feudal ideas and could not exist, and was planned to be turned into a peasant association training center.

.

Huzi was surprised by this, but An Yi knew it and smiled without saying anything. He ordered Lao Chang to arrange for the injured brothers to come in and rest.

After hurriedly finishing his late lunch, An Yi asked the doctor to change the medicine and lead Dong Yazi to the second and third companies, and Hu Hu also went to inspect the battalion security matters of the machine gun platoon.

It was already five o'clock in the afternoon when An Yi came to the Third Company from the construction site of the Second Company. The brothers of the Third Company started working after an hour's break after lunch. All construction preparations had been completed, and the logs required for the bridge construction had been cut and were waiting to be transported.

After listening to the report of company commander Chen Zhibiao, An Yi and Yin Jinan then looked at the eleven bucket-thick bridge pillars preserved in the water. They were full of praise for the officers and soldiers of the Third Company who were the foundation of their fortune. They praised the brothers on the spot for being good at summarizing the situation.

I'll use my brain. This way, the workload is reduced by at least one-third, and only 18 more columns are needed to reinforce and support the near-shore bridge.

The bridge deck is the simplest part of the entire project. You only need to cut out one-third of the plane from logs with a diameter of more than 25 centimeters, and fix them on the built load-bearing main body, and then use rough

The eight sets of steel fasteners under the beam are tightly connected and reinforced by iron chains, which is enough to allow the completed bridge to withstand the safe passage of trucks with a total weight of eight tons.

At this time, there was a burst of noise from the highway warning post a hundred meters away on the west bank. An Yi on the east bank looked up and found that the beautiful woman named Yang Suzhen was chasing after her and was negotiating with the playful and smiling Huang Yingwu in front of the crowd.

An Yi shook his head helplessly: "Jinan, go over and take a look. These hundreds of people from the farmers' association are here to help us. It seems that they have brought a lot of tools. Let them come in and build the bridge with us."

It will be much faster with their help, but they cannot be involved in key constructions such as the construction of beams and columns and the support at both ends. Otherwise, the more help you get, the more trouble you will have. Let them cut down the logs and prefabricate the logs for laying the bridge deck. Just watch the excitement.

Just let me see, once the main body is built, immediately transfer the two platoons together with the cooking team to the second company camp, leaving one platoon to continue the finishing work, and then quietly withdraw to the second company camp after finishing the work, and you cannot accept the things of the common people.

It's not easy for them either. The first platoon is responsible for the bridge protection work, and they will catch up with us after the division's special agents come over to take over. After working together to finish the bridge on the east, we can leave at any time, otherwise the local farmers' association or even a higher-level party group

If the boss comes over tomorrow, it won't matter if we see him or not."

Yin Jinan nodded: "Understood! Each platoon of the third company now has about seventy people, and the construction speed will be about one-third faster. The work of erecting load-bearing beams and columns is about to begin. The foundations at both ends have been excavated. It is estimated that four to five

The main body can be completed in an hour, and only one platoon will be needed for the next bridge deck construction, not to mention there are so many people to help. The second company has a heavy task. Although the river bed is dry and easy to construct, the construction supported by beams and columns is very difficult. You

Go watch the Second Company."

Yin Jinan jumped on a simple bamboo raft to cross the river, and An Yi rode on a big black horse and rushed to the second camp in the east of the village without looking back. He heard a dull blast along the way. When he arrived at the second camp warning post, he dismounted and walked down the dry river bed.

I saw that Cai Guangqing and the others had used blasting technology to blow up a five-meter small rock mountain protruding from the river bed 20 meters upstream at one time.

An Yi laughed happily: "Well done, brothers! I never thought of such a good idea. This explosion created a four-meter-square natural solid bridge pier, and instantly divided the forty-meter-long bridge into two

For construction of twenty meters, we only need to blow up a few large pieces of root rock on the east and west sides, and reroute dozens of meters of road to the bridge. What a great idea! Guangqing, after you finish this bridge, I will reward you with a thousand oceans.

, plus two war horses!”

The brothers of the Second Company cheered. Cai Guangqing looked at each other cheerfully with his two assistants, and after a brief discussion, he issued a military order to An Yi: It must be completed within eight hours!

After asking Cai Guangqing how to move more than 30 buckets of nearly four-meter-long support logs back, An Yi easily returned to the big camphor tree in the ancestral hall, sat on a comfortable bamboo chair and let Dong Yazi make a pot of water.

Good tea, I called the young doctor to ask about the recovery of the wounded, and then the two of them chatted happily about Chinese herbal medicine, smoked cigarettes and drank tea, feeling very comfortable.

The young doctor is also a talented person. Even though he is only twenty-two years old, he can recite the Four Books and Five Classics, is familiar with the Compendium of Materia Medica, knows hundreds of Chinese herbal medicines, and has mastered more than 200 Chinese medicine formulas. He knows a little bit about all three religions in the world, especially

There are several ancestral anti-inflammatory and detoxifying medical techniques that have greatly benefited the injured brothers. If his father hadn't been severely injured and died after being seized by rural tyrants, this guy with unlimited "money" would never have left his hometown of Changde in anger.

He rushed to Changsha overnight to sign up as a soldier.

On the morning before leaving Wuchang, the young doctor grabbed a handful of various wild grasses from nowhere, mashed them into a green and dark paste, and stubbornly applied it to the wounds on An Yi's head and left shoulder, and that was it.

Then wrap it up with gauze. An Yi was scared to death at the time, but seeing the extremely confident light in the young doctor's eyes, An Yi shut up and endured it, thinking that if something didn't feel right, he would immediately ask someone to peel it off and clean it, but he didn't expect to apply medicine.

A burst of coolness eased the pain. In just two days, the one-inch wound on his head was sealed and scabbed, and the injury on his shoulder healed quickly. An Yi was as happy as if he had found a treasure. He had already rewarded the young man with a used shell gun.

I secretly decided to take advantage of the next promotion opportunity to give him the rank of warrant officer. Once he gets the rank of warrant officer, he will be considered a real medical officer.

The two of them were chatting animatedly when Bearded Man came in a hurry. Before he could sit down, he waved to everyone around An Yi to leave. He picked up An Yi's tea cup and drank it all in one gulp, then poured another cup and held it in his hand:

"Xia Jian reported that the three groups dived to Qibao Mountain, 16 kilometers southeast four hours ago, and found that an unknown armed group of dozens of people was coming from the mouth of the east valley.

I checked the east and west valley mouth about five kilometers away for a while, gathered together to discuss, and then left quickly.

The brothers of the third group felt strange and sneaked in quietly. As soon as they approached the entrance of the valley and failed to come out, they found another thirty armed men with blunderbuss and spears and broadswords entering from the west entrance of the valley. Several of them had long and short guns.

The brothers hurriedly took cover while the group of people checked the terrain very carefully at the mouth of the valley and under the southern cliff, pointed and hurriedly left along the original road.

Xia Jian said that it seemed that the two groups were not in the same place. The Shuozi Valley they were looking at was the only way for the caravan road from Yangxi Town to Tonggu. After arriving at Yangxi by water and land, there was no other way to go to Tonggu except where we are building the bridge.

Apart from the north road, the only way is through the Sui Zi Valley, and there are high mountains and cliffs on both sides of the Sui Zi Valley. The gentle slopes 70 to 80 meters below the mountainside are densely wooded, so it is definitely a good place for an ambush."

An Yi was in great spirits and shouted "Dong Yazi, bring me the map". After finishing his cup of tea, Hu Hu lit up his cigarette. He took the map that Dong Yazi had brought in a hurry and spread it out, pointing to the South Road of Qibao Mountain and the Suizi Valley, and then to the southwest.

Yangxi was more than 20 kilometers away. An Yi suddenly understood: "You mean, this group of people want to ambush a certain team or a certain batch of goods in the direction of Yangxi?"

"Yes, and I estimate that it is probably a caravan transporting opium cigarettes. Otherwise it is difficult to explain, because everyone knows that our revolutionary army has begun to conquer Jiangxi. From Li County in the middle of eastern Hunan to the south of Pingxiang in western Jiangxi, almost all

The area is occupied by the center of the three armies of our revolutionary army and the right wing of the fifth army. Small and medium-sized battles are fought every day. Which caravan dares to enter easily at this time? Only our left wing in northeastern Hunan has not yet fought, and the sixth army and the first division

Advancing to the south of us, the distance between them and us is quite large, nearly a hundred kilometers, and this gap of nearly a hundred kilometers is enough for opium dealers to take risks."

Beard pointed at the road from western Hunan to Hengyang, and then pointed to the road from western Hunan to Changsha: "According to reports from Xia Jian and his brothers, opium dealers in Hunan usually use two roads, one south and one north. Now the south is blocked.

The road to the north is the only one left, taking Tonggu to Jiujiang and selling it to Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Xia Jian even boldly speculated that if it was an opium caravan that dared to come out at this time, it would probably be with the Hunan Army Cheng Qian.

The Sixth Army is related, otherwise no one would have the courage."

An Yi looked at the map carefully, thought calmly, raised his head and asked Hu Hu in a low voice: "What suggestions do you have?"

Huzi smiled slightly: "No matter who it is, let's join in the fun. We'll keep an eye on it in secret. If it works, we'll have a fight. Those who want to ambush are either bandits or local armed forces. If we fight well, we can get prisoners."

, take the opportunity to expand our team. It doesn’t matter if we don’t win well. Anyway, we will keep fighting eastward from now on, and no one will come back after the fight. To say the least, even if the friendly forces are selling opium privately, we cannot let the friendly forces suffer! What if?

If we can help our friendly forces, maybe we can take the opportunity to build a relationship in the future and work with them to expand our business, just like you often say: expand your wealth and make us prosperous together."

An Yi laughed: "We want to get together... any news about the brothers in the fifth group?"

"Not yet. I have sent four groups to assist the five groups that are conducting reconnaissance to the southwest, equipped with four fast horses. Xia Jian also personally led a group returning from the northwest to eight kilometers to the southwest to provide support. As soon as there is news, we will

If you know how to report, it won't take forty minutes. But according to my calculation, even if the two groups want to ambush, it will be tomorrow morning. It is already dark by this time, and no matter how many people the caravan has, they will not dare to leave.

Going up the mountain carriage road leading to Qibao Mountain, it is very likely that we will not be able to pass it until tomorrow dawn or tomorrow morning, or even at noon tomorrow. I am used to it during my escort years, and I know the difficulties and dangers involved." Beard's arrangement and

Consider it in great detail.

An Yi thought about it and put away the map and asked Dong Yazi to bring the food and finish it together. Without further news, he could only wait patiently.

Sure enough, at 9:10 p.m. Xia Jian returned and reported: "A caravan with more than 120 pack horses camped at Manfangwan, eight kilometers south of Qibao Mountain. More than 300 people were all equipped with long and short guns.

There are also two light machine guns. Although they are not wearing military uniforms, they can be seen as soldiers. Due to the tight defense of the other side, my brothers did not dare to get close to investigate closely. They could only use telescopes to check quietly from two or three kilometers away.

Judging from the appearance and shape of the cargo on the back, it is definitely opium. Currently, the brothers from the fourth group are monitoring the direction of Manfangwan, and the brothers from the fifth group are monitoring the direction of Shuangzi Valley, and will report back at any time if there is any situation."

Hu Hu smiled slightly: "As expected, they are probably the men and horses of the Sixth Army. Only they are closest to us and belong to the Central Army under the command of the Commander-in-Chief with us. They know the direction of our march and the location we have arrived at, so they dare to attack us at this time.

come over."

"Yes! This group of people has been walking this way all year round. I even suspect that they secretly colluded with the 15th Regiment of Fang Fengxiang Division of Deng Ruzhuo's tribe in the direction of Tonggu, or they have long-term cooperation with a powerful person in Tonggu, so they dare to be so bold.

Think about it, everyone, with more than 120 pack horses, even ordinary Yunnan-Guizhou tobacco is at least 25,000 kilograms, which is equivalent to about 750,000 yuan based on the lowest market price! God, it is enough for the normal expenses of a regular army for a year.

Oh..." An Yi sighed greatly.

Xia Jian took a step forward: "Two eldest brothers, the younger brother has this speculation. If they are really from the Sixth Army, they must think that our engineering battalion cannot repair these two bridges within a day or two, so they want to get ahead of us.

In a day or two, we quickly passed through Zhangfang Town, which is 34 kilometers to the east. After Zhangfang Town, we will reach the territory of Jiangxi. The roads are wide and easy to travel."

Huzi and An Yi walked towards the map at the same time, looked at it for a moment and nodded one after another.

An Yi turned to Xia Jian: "If the final intelligence can be further confirmed, please estimate how long it will take for our company and the sixty-five brothers of the machine gun platoon to bypass the 13 kilometers north of Qibao Mountain.

Take the winding trail to the east entrance of Suizi Valley?"

Xia Jian estimated for a moment: "If you are an old man from the first company and the cannon platoon of the battalion, at most three and a half hours will be enough. The sky is not too dark tonight, and the crescent moon is just right. This kind of night road is easy to walk."

An Yi discussed with Huzi for a while and immediately made a decision: "Let's do it! Huzi went to mobilize the troops and prepare. As long as one of the two groups drives into the Shuangzi Valley during the day to ambush, we will bring enough firepower immediately.
Chapter completed!