The day before yesterday, when Han Zong's personal soldiers came to find Xu Shuo, Xu Shuo was still setting up sand tables in his tent and busy finalizing the design of the checkpoint; and the soldiers in his place were already sorting out necessary luggage and preparing to explore the northern mountainous areas.
Xu said that the days were very busy. On the one hand, Xu said that his troops had begun the construction of the military fortress in the northern part of Lexiang City in accordance with the order of Xiao Langjun. The entire process required Xu Shuo's command arrangement. On the other hand, Tao Wei, the official in front of the general's tent, had already initially determined more than 20 places that were necessary and suitable for setting up checkpoints. When Xu Shuo's design was completed, he immediately transferred people to start construction. In this case, Xu Shuo wanted to split himself in half and work separately... Fortunately, the design of the checkpoint was not complicated, and half a day was enough.
The climate in Lexiang County is rainy and humid, so the checkpoints do not require rammed earth, but choose to be built with bamboo and wood. Each checkpoint requires a high-level observation stand for the soldiers to rest and have a certain defense effect, a warehouse for weapons and armor, a corral and a simple drainage system. This is not difficult for Xu Shuo, but his previous energy is on the planning of large-scale camps, and he can't get the time to complete it until today.
It's ridiculous to say that Xu said that when he joined the army, he was deeply disgusted with the low status of craftsmen and tried to win a new birth with his own courage. Unexpectedly, after a few years, he was a little stupid and had only gained some life and death. Instead, he relied on his family skills in the development of civil engineering and suddenly became a celebrity in the eyes of the generals of various departments. This situation did not make him very proud, but was very confused. He simply didn't know what he had worked hard for over the past few years.
Han Zong's personal soldiers rushed into the tent and told the young man that he was about to give him praise. Xu said that he had just copied the sketch on the sand table onto the silk. The personal soldiers came abruptly, so shocked that Xu said that his wrists shook, and the ink fell half a palm-sized stain on the white silk.
"It's broken! It's broken!" Xu Shuo held his forehead and complained loudly.
"Haha, Xu said, you are going to have great luck, what is a piece of white silk?" The personal soldier was very familiar with Xu said it regardless of the situation, and finally patted Xu said hard on the shoulder: "At noon tomorrow, be sure to put down what you have at hand and wait for Xiao Langjun's proofreading in the camp... Don't forget!"
When Xu Shuo was slapped by the personal soldier, his wrist shook again, and stains fell on the silk again, and he seemed to be unable to use it anymore.
"You go out!" Xu said angry.
The personal soldiers did not dare to provoke him. While walking out, they reminded him: "Don't forget it tomorrow at noon!"
"I understand!" Xu Shuo didn't raise his head.
At noon, he finally completed the drawings and quickly ordered his soldiers to send them to the Taowei office in the county town.
Xu Shuo walked out of the tent, rubbed his eyes, stretched his sore waist and back, and watched as the other soldiers had already prepared all the preparations needed to explore the mountain. They all changed into thick clothes, carried a knife on their waists, carried a bow and an arrow pouch on their backs, and led two extra old horses as followers. This state of preparing for war made Xu Shuo feel very comfortable. He insisted that he was a warrior, not a craftsman.
So Xu Shuo immediately put on military uniforms, brought his own weapons, and packed pens, inks, bamboo slips and so on in a package and placed them on the back of his own war horse. Then he led his subordinates out of the camp.
The trip had been approved by several generals and officers, and they also reported to Junzheng. Therefore, the group no longer delayed and soon entered the valley, and then walked forward along the mountain to the northwest.
There are no real roads in the valley, only some slopes with sparse shrubs intertwined. Between the slopes, there is a small river flowing slowly, stretching up along the mountain. There are gravel beaches formed by water flowing by the river. Obviously, when the water rises in spring and summer, the river will be much wider than it is now.
On several shores covered by shrubs, Xu Shuo and others found many discarded rafts. The rafts were extremely rough and even the branches on the trees were cut off, but they were very new. They should have been used by the barbarians who sneaked into the Lexiang County town a few days ago.
Obviously, this small river is a passage for barbarians to transport a large number of personnel and materials. If it cannot be blocked as soon as possible, God knows what will happen later.
Strangely, since the previous group of barbarians attacked were defeated, there has been no movement in the deep mountains. This made the soldiers, including Xu Shuo, feel strange. With the ferocity of barbarians, they should never suffer any losses, but they did not react at all.
As the saying goes, only a thousand days of thieves are not a thousand days of guarding against thieves. It is very hard to wait carefully, so Lei Yuan was determined to set up a large-scale military fortress and completely seal the exit of the valley. This is also the reason why Lei Cheng and his subordinates were determined to establish a fixed outpost in the depths of the valley. Only in this way can they detect and detect before the barbarians take action so that Lexiang County will be prepared in time.
The group continued to follow the river and along the riverside, they discovered traces of the Jingman team's marching, such as dense footprints on the mud flats, such as extinguished bonfires, bitten wild deer, pheasant and other wreckage. This proves that the direction they were moving was correct.
After walking for about two hours, I crossed the farthest range of the previous surveys and gradually entered the unknown deep mountains and forests. The river channel of the small river became narrow, and dense forests with branches began to appear on the banks of the river. The edge of the river beach was covered with dead branches and leaves accumulated over the years, all of which had rotted, revealing a wet and heavy and strange smell. When the horse's hooves stepped on it, the branches made a squeaking sound.
At this time, the sun was already westward, and the light was covered by continuous cliffs, making the depths of the valley suddenly dark.
A soldier looked at the deep and gloomy scenery upstream of the river and showed a fearful expression: "Walking forward, I don't know where it is. If I meet a barbarian, I have to fight and see blood... It's better to go back along the river and see which place is suitable for setting up a checkpoint."
Xu Shuo shook his head. Along the way, there are certainly places suitable for setting up checkpoints, but those places are too close. A two-hour walk distance, if the barbarians go down the water, they can reach Lexiang County in less than an hour... Then, even if the enemy is discovered in advance at the checkpoint, how much effect can it play? Since you need to establish a checkpoint, at least you have to ensure the early warning time.
He thought for a while and said to his subordinates: "Let's walk forward and find a suitable place to camp first. Wait until it's dawn tomorrow, then make plans."
So they continued to walk for two or three miles and found a relatively dry platform surrounded by several huge rocks. They drove the horses to the bottom of the platform, some people unloaded the supplies from the horse's backs, built simple marching tents, and some people went to the distance to pick up firewood, preparing to use it to raise a stove to make a fire.
But not long after, I suddenly heard a rustling sound in the forest, as if something was running in the forest, and as if the wind was blowing through the woods, rolling the leaves.
Xu Shuo immediately gathered the soldiers vigilantly and used rocks as a cover. In the past few days, they had heard a lot of cruel stories about barbarians from the local people. They all knew that barbarians appeared in the mountains, and no one dared to relax at all.
He waited for a while with his breath in his eyes, but no other sound was heard. Xu Shuo carefully stretched out his head and looked around. He saw a gray-brown wild deer passing through the branches and leaves, protruding from the woodland, probably going to the river to drink water. After walking a few steps, he probably found the smell of humans, so he jumped and left.
"It's a wild deer." He whispered.
Someone chuckled softly, "Catch it, you'll have venison tonight!"
Xu said, "Don't be too troublesome."
At dusk, there were still mottled lights and shadows in the forest, but he felt that his vision was obviously limited, and at this time, it was impossible to hunt. He regretted that he should not continue to move forward just now, even if he was only two miles away from the familiar terrain, which was too dangerous. He came to survey the terrain, not to explore; he only brought five soldiers, and could not ensure safety... He should be more cautious.
While thinking about this, he turned around and saw several balls of gray, like huge balls of hair, quickly crossing the rock and pounced towards his companions.
"Be careful behind!" Xu Shuo called out a warning sternly and pulled his sword and rushed over. At this moment, he saw the soldiers staring behind him, and they also drew their swords, showing a look of shock and anger. He instinctively swung the sword back, but suddenly it turned black in front of him, and he felt a sharp pain behind his head, and he fell to the ground and lost consciousness.
...
A day later, an elite army with more than 200 people and distinctive armor arrived at the place where Xu Shuo and others were raided.
After Lei Cheng informed Lei Yuan of the news of Xu Shuo and others' disappearance, it aroused Lei Yuan's great vigilance. He immediately terminated the mission of patroling the soldiers of various battalions, ordered all the troops to raise their vigilance. Then he mobilized the elite troops of the headquarters to lead them deep into the valley to investigate the truth.
Both Guo Jing and Wang Yan persuaded Lei Yuan not to react so fiercely, nor should he take on the front-line command tasks personally, but Lei Yuan denied it.
Both of them felt Lei Yuan's anger, so they did not dare to persuade him again.
Lei Yuan was indeed very angry.
He clearly felt that since he arrived in Jingzhou, everyone had been more or less relaxed. This time, the Deli subordinates he valued were missing under the noses of his own military camp, which was simply a situation that only occurred in the ranks of bandits. This proved that everyone had lost their vigilance and did not pay enough attention to Jing Man in the deep mountains. Generals like Lei Cheng were to blame, and Lei Yuan himself was not without responsibility.
Such a thing affected Lei Yuan's good mood, who originally wanted to celebrate the New Year with everyone, and his nerves that had just relaxed were once again tense up. He told himself that he must cheer up and figure out the whole story, and that he must not let danger approach his base!
In this operation, the guide and scout were several barbarians recruited by Liu He in the post station. Recently, Chi Li Ningta, who was having sex with Fan Hong and Li Zhen, hiding with the tribesmen, following the traces along the way. Sometimes, looking at the familiar terrain, it seemed like he was very happy.
At this time, Chi Li Ningta stood in the middle of the platform surrounded by rocks, stomped her feet heavily, showing a proud look, and shouted loudly: "It's here!"
Lei Yuan then walked to the stage surrounded by his entourage, glanced left and right a few times, and immediately lowered his face.
Chapter completed!