That night, the fire in the reed marshes kept burning. The entire reed marshes to the north and south of the Xiaoling River mouth were all ignited due to the spread of the fire, until the whole place was burned red.

The ashes of vegetation caused by the burning of the fire were scattered by the wind, and fell like snow in the sky and earth, pitter-pattering and falling endlessly.

It wasn't until the next morning, when the east was already white and bright, and the new rising sun was already looming on the sea level, that the reed swamp facing Shazhou Island was completely burned out, and the open fire gradually extinguished, but there was still a gray-white glow.

Thick smoke.

The reed marshes that used to be tall and dense, stretching as far as the eye can see and constantly undulating and swaying in the wind, were burned into an ugly, pitch-black coastline, leaving only patches of reed roots offshore.

Yang Zhen was worried about Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu all night. After lying down again, he always fell asleep and woke up for a while, never being able to relive the old dream again.

When it was almost dawn, Yang Zhen thought about Yang Zhan'ao and the others who had not returned all night, and wondered whether they might have been sacrificed in the fire in the reed marsh.

After all, fire is ruthless, and the thick smoke formed by burning is even more ruthless. If you are not careful, you may get trapped in the reed marsh.

Just as he was becoming more and more pessimistic about this issue, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the situation of Yang Zhan'ao and others was not good, when he suddenly heard a voice coming from outside the shack:

"Boss Yang!? You are back! Great! My lord was worried all night last night and just fell asleep again! My lord would be happy if he knew that you are back!"

Although Yan San's excited voice was deliberately lowered, it still reached Yang Zhen's ears clearly.

Hearing this voice, Yang Zhen opened up the torn quilt covering himself and quickly got out of the underground shack. As soon as he climbed onto the ground, he saw two men, one tall, one short, one strong and one thin, standing with messy hair and dark faces.

Not far away, in front of Yan San, he was smiling and talking softly.

The two men, who looked like they had just emerged from a heap of coal ash, smiled when they saw Yang Zhen, showing their white teeth.

If you look closely, aren't they Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu?!

Yang Zhen was so excited that he didn't even bother to put on the worn-out boots, so he ran over barefoot. First Yang Zhan'ao, then Guo Xiaowu, gave them a big hug one by one.

Yang Zhen didn't say anything, and Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu didn't speak either, but Yang Zhen's hug was enough to explain everything.

For these current subordinates, Yang Zhen has never been shy about expressing his affection. He wants them to know that he regards each of them as brothers.

These people were his only resource for survival and development in this troubled world, so he couldn't help but ignore them.

These actions of his also had very good results, not only quickly motivating his old subordinates to serve, but also quickly gaining the heartfelt support of his new subordinates.

Guo Xiaowu was like this. When he saw Yang Zhen, the deputy general appointed by the imperial court and the temporary commander of the Ningyuan advance camp, when he heard that he was back, he ran out barefoot to greet him in the cold weather, and seemed to hug the old man Yang Zhan'ao.

Like his subordinates, he embraced his temporary subordinate who was seconded to help. Needless to say, he was filled with excitement and admiration. He only regretted that he had not met such a superior officer earlier, and that he did not have the blessing to serve under Yang Zhen all the time.

"Sir! We have a heavy responsibility this time! We couldn't come back in time to report the news! I just heard that there was a chaos on the island because of this! Fortunately, your Excellency, you stabilized your position! Otherwise, the sins of the low-ranking people and others will be dead.

Redeemed!"

After Yang Zhan'ao and Yang Zhen saw each other, they immediately said to Yang Zhen: "We really didn't expect that the Tatar leader would attack so quickly! Guo Xiaowu and I were at the edge of the reed marsh at that time, and we wanted to see the Tatars up close.

What does the leader look like! But I never thought that after that man arrived, he would order the reeds to be burned in just a few words!

"Fortunately, we saw the opportunity early. Although we couldn't understand what the Tatars were saying, as soon as we saw the Tatar cavalry preparing rockets, we ran back immediately! Fortunately, the wind was blowing to the west, otherwise, no matter how fast we ran, we wouldn't be able to run.

Fire!——

"After that, Guo Xiaowu and I were thinking about redeeming ourselves and fearing that the Tatars might take advantage of the chaos to attack, so we stayed on the boat until dawn, picking out the reeds that were not on fire!

"Actually, even if the Tatars burn the reed swamps, we don't have to go to the west to look out. As long as the weather is fine and we stand at this high place, if the Tatars and horses move louder, we can see them directly!"

What Yang Zhan'ao said in the end was indeed correct. After hearing what he said, Yang Zhen turned his head and looked to the west. He saw that the field of vision that was originally blocked by the reeds was indeed much wider.

It's just that the smoke in the reed marsh area is so thick that you can't see too far yet. However, if the Tatars dare to attack today, they won't be able to go very far and they will be exposed to Yang Zhen's vision.

Therefore, the Tatars burning the reed swamps had both disadvantages and advantages for Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen stood next to Yang Zhan'ao. After listening to what he said, he patted his shoulder and said to him and Guo Xiaowu: "There is no need to say anything more! You have no sins and you have not let me down.

Great trust! As long as you come back safely, that is more important than anything else!"

After Yang Zhen said these words, Yang Zhan'ao and Guo Xiaowu bowed and saluted again. Yang Zhen quickly stopped the two of them and then said: "What happened to the Tatar leader you just mentioned? It was the Tatar leader Huang Taiji who came in person.

, or are other Tatar generals who are stationed outside Songshan City and commanding the siege coming in person?!"

This time, it was Guo Xiaowu who answered first: "My lord! After noon yesterday, after your lord led the troops of the advance battalion to evacuate, two groups of Tatar soldiers arrived! Not long after your lord had just evacuated, the first group of Tatar soldiers

There were about a thousand people on horseback, and they came! But they were wandering back and forth outside the reed swamp, not daring to enter! They just collected the bodies of the Tatars outside!

"I also saw the Mongolian general under General Xu in our camp before. He should be the Nomqi who surrendered to the enemy! The Tatar leader asked Nomqi many questions in front of the reed swamp, and Nomqi answered them all.

! But for some reason they never dared to come in. If they dared to come in, we would be the ones setting the fire!

"This group of people collected the Tatar corpses. After more than an hour, it was already dark, and a larger group of Tatar soldiers and horses came outside the reed swamp. There were probably no less than three or four thousand people! One of them was a fat Tatar.

The man, riding a tall horse, was surrounded by stars wherever he went. Mr. Yang Ba and I speculated that that man was probably the Tatar leader outside Songshan City!

"The Tatar leader almost fell off his horse when he saw the piles of Tatar corpses we had killed! - Later, the Tatar leader let a group of people help him and came to the sand pile in front of the reed marsh.

He just stood and looked east for a while, and before we were ready to shoot him, we ordered the fire!

"Moreover, Yang told the general manager what happened next! In short, after the adults left, the situation over there in the reed swamp will be like this!"

Guo Xiaowu was very eloquent, and he could explain a quite complicated situation clearly in three to five sentences.

"What color clothes is that Tatar leader wearing? What color hat is he wearing? Is he taller and fatter than the average person?! What kind of beard is he wearing on his face? His face is black and red.

Is it sallow, or is it white and pure?!"

Yang Zhen knew something about Huang Taiji in later generations. At this time, he was eager to know who this bold and decisive Tatar leader was.

Guo Xiaowu didn't let Yang Zhen wait any longer. As soon as Yang Zhen finished speaking, he heard Guo Xiaowu say: "Why isn't your Excellency there? You guessed it 70% to 80%?! That Tatar leader - he's not just tall.

He’s so fat! I think he’s so fat that he can’t even walk! After getting off the horse, he still has to walk a few dozen steps with a few people to help him!

"When the men in the humble position were closest to him, they were only a few dozen steps away! The Tatar leader wore a black fur cloak, a bright yellow brocade robe underneath, and what he thought was a black mink hat, but he didn't even have one.

Armor!

"As for his complexion, it's neither sallow nor fair. I think he's a bit dark and red! If he wasn't so angry after seeing those hundreds of Tatar corpses, he must have some hidden disease in his body!

"There is also a beard. I saw that he had a mustache and a beard on his chin. He was about fifty years old! If he hadn't been surrounded by layers of Tatar heavy-armored knights, I would have shot him with an arrow at that time.
Chapter completed!