Under the moonlight, a layer of smoke covered the water at the mouth of the Xiaoling River, blocking the view.

On the distant coast, there were still reeds burning, and the fire lit up the night sky.

It was quiet everywhere except for the sound of wind, oars and water.

Yang Zhen, Zhang Chen, Yang Zhan'ao, Yan San, Guo Xiaowu, and Ma Liu rowed the boat silently but briskly and sailed smoothly into the main channel of Xiaoling River.

The reeds on both sides of the river bank have been burned, and only some clumps in the east and west remain, which more or less gave Yang Zhen and others a sense of security.

Fortunately, the rising tide has turned the areas adjacent to both sides of the Xiaoling River mouth into swamps. Even if the Tatars wanted to send people to watch here, they couldn't.

Even if the Tatars sent someone and discovered it from a distance, there would not be much of a threat to Yang Zhen and the six people on the boat.

As far as they were concerned, the worst they could do was turn around and leave, giving up their sentry expedition ashore.

Yang Zhen thought so, and Yan San at the helm thought so too, so deep down he didn't care if there were any Tatar sentries on the river bank. He just silently tried to identify the direction and paddled the boat silently.

After entering the main channel of the river mouth, about a quarter of an hour later, the water surface began to narrow. After paddling forward for a while, Yang Zhen could vaguely identify their location.

"Sir! If you go further, you will be out of the reed marsh! After leaving the reed marsh, go west for about a mile. To the north is the Tatar camp where we attacked at night last time!"

The person who spoke in a deliberately lowered voice was Zhang Chen.

He really deserves to be a member of the Liaodong frontier army at that time.

He had only been to this area twice, both at night, and now that there had been fires and the terrain had changed so much, he still gave the location accurately.

Zhang Chen's words successfully caused some commotion on the boat. Yang Zhan'ao, Guo Xiaowu, Yan San, and Ma Liu all stared at Yang Zhen, waiting for him to speak and make up his mind.

"It's okay! Keep going by boat! If you bump into a Tatar patrol post, you can hide if you can. If you can't hide, jump off the boat into the water! Use the boat as a cover, and then climb on the side of the boat to retreat! Get on the boat when you reach the mouth of the river!"

When everyone heard Yang Zhen's idea, they all thought it was feasible and said nothing. They turned around and continued paddling hard. The boat soon continued to swim upstream.

After about a quarter of an hour, the boat passed a branch of the river.

Yang Zhen calculated the time and distance and felt that it was time to reach the place where they attacked the Tatar food and grass camp last night, so he stood up with Yang Zhan'ao's shoulders and looked towards the north of the river bank.

The Tatar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River was completely dark without any light.

Yang Zhen was a little confused, fearing that he had taken everyone on the wrong channel, so he turned around and asked Yan San in a low voice: "Save San! Is the pontoon bridge that I asked you to blow up last time reach the place and how far is it?"

"It's not far! Just turn a corner and you'll see it!" Yan San replied immediately.

At this time, Guo Xiaowu also turned his head from the front and said to Yang Zhen: "Sir! Mr. Yang and I went to the direction of the Empress' Palace today to scout out the boat that was hidden nearby and landed on the shore!

"The rivers and bends here are densely covered, and the Tatar fire did not burn this place to ashes! Otherwise - we should still hide the boats here and go ashore?"

"No! Let's keep going by boat! I suspect that the Tatar camps in the north and south of Xiaoling River have already withdrawn! And they have really withdrawn!"

If the Tatar camps on both sides of the Xiaoling River are led by people like Azig and Abatai, Yang Zhen may have to think carefully about it, but since it has been confirmed that Huang Taiji is leading the army in person, there is no need to

Feeling suspicious.

Because people like Azig and Abatai despised the Ming army very much, they didn't think much about the Ming army's sneak attacks when marching and setting up camp, so they were more carefree.

But Huang Taiji was different. Firstly, this man himself was a thoughtful person, and secondly, he just wanted to relax, and the two yellow flag troops accompanying him would not be so careless.

Especially when Yang Zhen's advance battalion has already attacked twice from the coast, how could Huang Taiji be unprepared in this direction if he was still in the Empress Palace camp?!

Now, I have led my people deep into this place, but have not yet encountered a group of Tatar patrols. This means that there is no Tatar garrison in this place.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen became bolder and said to everyone: "Relax! Based on the news sent back by Zhan'ao and Xiaowu today, I guess the Tatars have withdrawn!"

After Yang Zhen said this, the others became bolder and no longer worried that the sound of hitting the water caused by their hard rowing would attract the attention of the Tatar patrol sentry.

However, Zhang Chen, who was always cautious, asked: "If the Tatars had already withdrawn this afternoon, then why did the sound of the red cannon fire outside Songshan City continue until dusk?! Could it be said that the Tatars

Are you planning to evacuate in batches?!"

"That should be the case! The Tatar leader Huang Taiji may have withdrawn first with the two yellow flags! But he left behind the troops of King Sanshun and King Sanshun to cut off his queen!——

"By the way, I almost forgot! There are also the Tatars besieging Tashan and Songshan. It will take time for them to retreat! Huang Taiji left King Sanshun's team behind while continuing to paralyze the defenders of Songshan and Jinzhou, allowing him to withdraw his troops to the rear

, on the one hand, let King Sanshun’s team wait and respond to their Tatar troops in Tashan and Songshan!”

As soon as Yang Zhen's analysis was revealed, everyone was filled with emotion. On the one hand, they lamented the treachery of the Tatar leader, and on the other, they lamented Yang Zhen's meticulous mind.

Not long after Yang Zhen finished speaking, the boat sailed through a small bay and re-entered a river that ran generally east-west, and a simple wooden bridge appeared in front of everyone.

in front of my eyes.

This simple wooden bridge is built by several long logs nailed together side by side. The entire bridge deck is laid directly on a piece of wooden pile piers on the shallows on both sides of the river.

Many of those wooden pile bridge piers have collapsed, leaving traces of the last time they were blown up.

When the boat arrived, everyone could already see the towering watchtower at the main entrance of the Tatar Grain and Grass Camp to the northeast of the river bank.

But there were no torches on the watchtower, and there was complete silence. At the main entrance of the Tatar grain and grass camp, not a single sound of people or horses could be heard.

At this time, Zhang Chen, who was sitting at the bow of the boat, let out a sigh of relief, quickly put the cable on the wooden pile at the head of the bridge, stopped the boat, and then whispered to Yang Zhen:

"Sir! The Tatars may have really retreated! At least the Tatar camp we have been to before does not look like there is anyone stationed there!——"

Having said this, Zhang Chen stood up holding the oar, looked at the north side of the river bank again, then squatted down and continued: "Otherwise - Sir, you stay here first, Zhan Ao and I will go ashore first to take a look.

Look, if it’s confirmed that no one is around, please come ashore!”

Yang Zhen knew that Zhang Chen was considering his own safety, so he patted him on the shoulder and said to him: "Okay! You go first! If it is safe, use the night owl's cry to convey the message to me!"

Yang Zhen insisted on personally leading the team ashore for sentry inspection. In addition to the need to observe closely in order to more directly understand the movements of the Tatars and make accurate judgments, he also wanted to use this method to firmly establish himself in the minds of his subordinates.

The heroic and fearless image in.

After all, just hiding in the trenches and firing cold shots at the Tatars does not reflect much of the masculine spirit of being fearless and fearless of death!

However, leading the team to the previous enemy-occupied area to scout did not mean that he did not care about his own safety.

Professional matters should still be left to professionals, and Zhang Chen, who was born at night, is a very professional person in night travel and sentry detection.

Not long after Zhang Chen and Yang Zhan'ao stepped ashore through the accumulated water on the river bank, Yang Zhen heard a series of intermittent "gurgling" and "gurgling" sounds coming from outside the still dense reeds on the river bank.

This is the cry of the night owl that Yang Zhen and Zhang Chen agreed to deliver the message.

Yang Zhen had never heard the cry of a night owl before, but he knew that the cry of a night owl was not much different from that of an owl, and he had heard the cry of an owl.
Chapter completed!