After everyone in the group got off the boat, Yang Zhen ordered everyone to pull the centipede boat onto the beach, and finally dragged it to a high sandbank and hid it in a large dry reed bush.

Because another Centipede ship from the navy camp that was ordered to come to scout had not yet appeared, so Yang Zhen did not dare to take it lightly.

"Sir! Please let me take the left wing first and go straight to the old stronghold at the top to check it out! Please take your right wing and wait here and prepare for war. If it is safe there, I will send someone to inform you! That's it!

It’s absolutely perfect!”

Zhang Chen saw that Yang Zhen was acting extremely cautious and did not dare to be careless at the moment. He was originally a night guard in the Ming Dynasty border army in the direction of Yizhou. His best skill was to get close to the enemy camp to spy on intelligence, and even go deep into the enemy's rear in a roundabout way.

Conduct sentinel inspections.

Yang Zhen was also very clear about this. He knew that this was Zhang Chen's old profession, so he immediately agreed.

Zhang Chen greeted his subordinates, carried a musket on his back, held a shovel in his hand, and walked ahead with his back bent, passing through the dry reeds as tall as a person, and walked quickly to the distance.

About a quarter of an hour later, a small, skinny monkey-like musketeer who had left with Zhang Chen suddenly jumped out of the dry reeds and said to Yang Zhen: "Sir! Adjutant Zhang, please let me know.

The younger one is here to report! The old village in the distance is an abandoned village, and there is no one there! Adjutant Zhang asked the younger one to come and ask the adults and right-wing brothers to go there without worries!"

At this time, Yang Zhen finally felt relieved, straightened up, and said to the people around him: "Let's go! Let's go to the front and have a look!"

The group of people walked through patches of dry reeds and walked deeper into the sandbank.

This sandbank is quite large, with a beach on the outermost edge, and there are dry reeds and some swamps on the beach.

Walking further in, and also walking up, you will find a dry sandy land covered with dry thatch, with some rocks here and there.

Next, we passed through a sandy area, and continuing in or going up, there was a series of low bushes.

It was March in Liaodong. Although the weather was getting warmer, it was still a bit cold. The dry shrubs on the sandbank had no leaves and were almost the same color as the coarse sand and gravel on the ground.

Yang Zhen led the musketeers behind him through a patch of low bushes and continued to walk forward silently. Looking up, he could see patches of low and sparse groves.

All that was left of the dilapidated old camp was a low wall made of stacked stones, which was no more than two feet high. Viewed from below, it was hidden in a sparse forest.

Through the bushes, Yang Zhen saw Zhang Chen standing on the low stone wall, waving to him.

When Yang Zhen approached the bushes, he found that the highest point on the sandbank was similar to the landform seen on the road, consisting of sand and stone.

In the middle or the highest part of the sandbank, there are very common dwarf elm trees growing vigorously.

Yang Zhen came to the broken stone wall and met Zhang Chen. He looked down at the ground and found that there should have been a trench outside the low wall.

However, it is now covered with hay and filled with rocks and sand. Only faint traces of a trench can be seen here.

Yang Zhen stretched out his hand, asked Zhang Chen to help, and pulled him up a section of the broken wall. Standing here, he could almost have an unobstructed view of the topography of the entire sandbank.

Yang Zhen first looked to the west. In the distance was the coastline of western Liaoning. He only saw patches of reed swamps, with gray-white dry reeds undulating in the wind.

Beyond the endless reeds along the coast, and continuing to look to the west, there are endless stretches of dark woods.

Yang Zhen set up a pergola and looked to the west. In the far distance were the rolling dark black mountains.

He originally thought that he might be able to see Songshan City, but no, Songshan City was located between the dark woods and the rolling dark mountains in the distance.

Relying on his understanding of the terrain of western Liaoning in later generations, he knew that Songshan City might be behind the dark woods in the distance.

Because Songshan City is located eighteen miles southeast of Jinzhou City, only eight or nine miles away from the sea, that is, from the outlet of Xiaoling River.

Standing on the highest point of this sandbank, looking further north, you can see the Xiaoling River in the distance, like a long and thin white line, meandering into the sea.

The topography of the Xiaoling River outlet area is indeed very complex. There are countless small sandbanks and small patches of reeds, surrounded by narrow waterways one after another, like a large maze.

Yang Zhen looked around and saw that on this huge oval-shaped sandbank, there was only a depression in what could be called the southeast corner, which seemed to be lower than the surrounding places.

"Maybe a water source can be dug out of that depression! But I don't know if the water dug out on this sandbank is drinkable? If it's not drinkable, then we have to risk going to Xiaoling River to get water!"

Yang Zhen stood on the stone wall, observing the topography of the sandbar, and thinking about where to camp, where to dig trenches, and where to get water.

At this moment, Zhang Chen, who had been standing next to him, suddenly whispered: "Look, sir! The reed marsh at the mouth of Xiaoling River! There seems to be a boat!"

Zhang Chen's words were fast and urgent, and there was a hint of nervousness and panic in his voice, which made Yang Zhen's heart twitch together in an instant, and he was a little surprised.

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhen quickly turned to look north again. At first glance, he saw that it was indeed a small boat coming out from the depths of the reed swamp, and the people on the boat seemed to be setting up a pergola and looking up to the heights of the sandbank.

When Yang Zhen saw this, he immediately pulled Zhang Chen and jumped off the stone wall. But at this moment, one of the oars of the centipede boats under Yuan Jin's command hesitated and said: "Master Xie Zhen! That is a centipede.

Boat! It should be someone from our naval camp!"

After hearing this, Yang Zhen's heart was filled with lightning. He thought about the fact that the other centipede boat had never been seen, and his heart that had just been hanging around suddenly relaxed again.

Climbing the stone wall again, looking to the north, I saw someone on the small boat waving vigorously towards me - it seemed that my figure had been seen just now.

However, at this time, Yang Zhen was already very sure that the boat those people were riding in was the same as the boat he was riding in. It was the centipede boat of Yuan Jinshui's camp.

In order to avoid any accidents, Yang Zhen sent the sharp-eyed oarsman from the navy camp, named Guo Xiaowu, to follow several musketeers under Zhang Guogan and quickly run in the direction of the centipede boat.

Fortunately, there was no accident. Guo Xiaowu knew all the six oarsmen on the Centipede boat. After about a quarter of an hour, they all came to Yang Zhen's eyes.

That Guo Xiaowu led several people to Yang Zhen, pointed at one of the leading men, and said first: "Master Xiezhen! This is Brother Yan, a soldier of our naval camp Yuan Shui, who is most popular with us.

Lord Guards trust——"

Before Guo Xiaowu finished speaking, he was interrupted by the man named Yan San. He only heard Yan San say: "Master Xiezhen! Young Yan San! On the order of our garrison master, go to Xiaolinghe Whistle

Detective! I sent the message back this morning, and I don’t want to see you here now!”

Yang Zhen looked at this Yan San and saw that he had a tiger-like back, tall arms, dark skin, and a shrewd expression. After thinking about it carefully, he had a vague impression that he must have seen this person next to Yuan Jin.

.

Therefore, after hearing what he said, he immediately asked: "Brother Yan! Is there any enemy situation around the mouth of Xiaoling River?"

After hearing this, Yan San immediately clasped his fists and said, "You're welcome, sir! Just call me by my first name! - There is no hostile situation around the mouth of the Xiaoling River! The mouth of the river is full of salt marshes, and the ice has been civilized. The Tatars

There is no way to camp!

"But - deep into the mouth of Xiaoling River, there is a large camp in the area of ​​the Empress' Palace six or seven miles away! It should be heavily defended by Tatars!

"The boys hid the boat at the mouth of the river and explored along the reed swamps on the banks of the Xiaoling River. When we got to the Empress Palace, it was impossible to cross! Both sides of the river were full of Tatar camps! We hid in the

When I was in the reed swamp, I heard someone coming to get water, but they were speaking in Chinese!"

Having said this, Yan San looked at Yang Zhen and saw that Yang Zhen was looking at him intently, and immediately said: "Based on my little experience, the Tatars stationed in the Empress Palace area must be full of Han Tatars."
Chapter completed!