Marching under such harsh natural conditions, if you follow your past habits, you will no longer be able to keep up with the rhythm!
At this time, Liu Ruyi's ministries did not have much food and grass. Only by finding Mongolian tribes, cities, and rivers and replenishing "fresh blood" in a timely manner could the army continue to maintain vitality!
Now that he has discovered his target, Liu Ruyi will not talk to them about 'benevolence, justice and morality'!
For Liu Ruyi, the best way to solve the problem is with the steel knife in his hand!
The army had a feast, and night had quietly fallen!
Compared with the hot weather during the day, the weather at night suddenly dropped by more than ten degrees. It was gloomy, damp and cold, making people very uncomfortable!
Fortunately, the soldiers were all in their prime, and since they had eaten enough, drank enough, and rested for a day, there wasn't much trouble!
Liu Ruyi ordered every soldier to load two large pots of cold boiled water, and then ordered the entire army to set off and head straight for the small Mongolian tribe!
Although this place is a 'grassland', in fact, the grasslands here are sparse, as if suffering from 'alopecia'. Liu Ruyi doesn't know when he will encounter the next water source!
The most important thing is that firewood is scarce on the grassland. Liu Ruyi doesn't want his men to drink "raw water", so he has to make plans in advance to be prepared!
~~~~~
With the old cat of Nine Lives guiding the way, the journey was much smoother. The army ran wildly toward the northeast for more than thirty miles, and finally arrived at what the old cat of Nine Lives called the ‘depression’!
This place is really a "depression", but to describe it as a "sinkhole" is much more accurate!
Although it was at night, through the swaying moonlight, Liu Ruyi could clearly see that in the center of a flat grassland, there was a huge pothole about half a mile in radius!
This pothole is so deep that you can’t even see the bottom!
On the side wall of the pit, there is a small space of seven or eight square meters, which seems to be a platform for sacrifices. At this time, a dozen colorful stone military sentries are gathering there, huddled together, relying on each other's body temperature to keep warm!
The job of a scout is quite dangerous. Although this place is desolate, there is no guarantee that some blind people will pass by. These scouts do not dare to light a fire, so they have no choice but to do this!
But when they saw Liu Ruyi's army coming, they were all excited!
"General, general..." They climbed onto the grassland one after another and knelt down respectfully in front of Liu Ruyi!
After all, Nine Lives Old Cat was born in the martial arts world. Liu Ruyi trusted him, but he did not completely trust him. Except for a small number of these scouts who were direct descendants of Nine Lives Old Cat, most of the rest were from the Colored Stone Army.
The best among them!
There is no doubt about their loyalty to Liu Ruyi!
Liu Ruyi personally helped them up one by one, "Brothers, thank you for your hard work! After this battle is over, I will definitely take credit for the brothers!"
"Hey! Thank you, General!"
"Thank you, General!" These scouts couldn't help but be overjoyed and kowtowed one after another!
After some pleasantries, Liu Ruyi said: "Brothers, who among you knows the way to the Mongolian tribe? Do you dare to lead the way for the army?"
The leading scout was a man in his thirties, with a full beard and a fierce look. However, in front of Liu Ruyi, he was as docile as a kitten!
At this time, when he heard Liu Ruyi's question, he hurriedly knelt down and said: "General, the day before yesterday, I took my brothers to explore the road, and I have memorized the route in my mind! I am willing to be a general and lead the way for the army!"
Liu Ruyi smiled, "What a man! Where are you from? What's your name?"
The man was overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down and said: "The younger one is from Nanyuan, Zhangqiu. His name is Zhang Hu. For generations, the younger one has been a tenant farmer of your family, the general! In the tenth year of Chongzhen's reign, he followed the general to Caishi Town!"
Liu Ruyi nodded, but her heart settled down. An old man from the Caishi Army should be trustworthy!
"Good man, Zhang Hu! I've written it down! Come on, get up and mount your horse! Let's set off now!" Liu Ruyi pulled him up and pointed to the horse beside him.
Zhang Hu was overjoyed and bowed to Liu Ruyi, then jumped onto his horse and led the army towards the northwest!
The army ran all the way. The farther to the northwest, the denser the grassland became, and the quality of the grass improved a lot!
However, along the way, Liu Ruyi did not see any scattered herdsmen. Presumably, in this era, it is not easy to live alone, and the Mongolians should also live in gatherings!
When walking on the grassland, everything is the same. Everywhere you look, there is endless green grass!
If it rains or is windy, it is easy to lose your way!
Fortunately, the weather is excellent tonight. Although there is some wind, it is not too strong and the visibility is very high. The Big Dipper in the sky has been guiding Liu Ruyi's army in the direction!
~~~
After running wildly all night, Liu Ruyi's army arrived at a wide river at dawn!
This big river is about seven or eight meters wide, flowing from west to east, with rolling waves and very fast!
At this time, Zhang Hu hurriedly came forward and said: "General, cross this river and walk three or four miles north, that is where the Mongolian tribe lives!"
Liu Ruyi couldn't help but frown. The river had no depth, and the current was so fast. It would not be easy to cross the river!
Zhang Hu seemed to see Liu Ruyi's doubts and hurriedly explained: "General, this river is not deep. A little to the east, there is a shoal. The bottom of the river is full of pebbles. It can only be wet by a person's calf! Let's
You can cross the river from there!”
Liu Ruyi glanced at Zhang Hu and said, "Let's go and have a look!"
Soon, the army came to the shoal Zhang Hu mentioned!
The river surface here is wider than the ordinary river section. If you look carefully, you can see obvious artificial traces. Both ends of the river surface are paved with many fine pebbles!
Come to think of it, this is a hidden bridge built by the Mongols to cross the river!
Zhang Hu took the lead in entering the water and walked along the river. Sure enough, as he said, the river water only covered his calves. At this time, it should be considered the rainy season on the grassland. Presumably, in the dry season, the place should be exposed.
'Mingqiao'!
Liu Ruyi did not hesitate and immediately ordered the army to cross the river!
………………
By the time the army crossed Hebei, the sky had brightened slightly, and the sun peeked out from the clouds on the eastern horizon, reflecting the red morning glow!
"General, look, over there! Someone is coming over there!" Huolang has sharp eyes and his vision is much sharper than ordinary people. The army was still resting in place, so Huolang was the first to discover the anomaly in the northwest!
Liu Ruyi took a closer look, and sure enough, against the red morning glow, a dozen small figures seemed to be carrying something, walking slowly towards the river!
At this time, Liu Ruyi was in the south, and they were in the north. Looking from south to north, they could avoid the dazzling sunlight, but looking from north to south, it was because of the dazzling sunlight that it would be difficult to see Liu Ruyi clearly for a while.
trend!
"General, do you want to capture them?" Huo Lang said nervously.
Liu Ruyi shook her head slightly, "Don't worry! They are not riding horses! And, from the looks of it, they are not men! Let's wait until they get closer! Brothers, please keep quiet!"
"yes!"
~~~~
Soon, the dozen figures had already rushed to the river. Each of them was carrying two huge buckets. They were in low spirits. They were less than 200 steps apart, but they did not notice Liu Ruyi's army at all!
"Go! Catch them! Don't hurt them!" The closer the distance, the more certain Liu Ruyi became that these people should be women!
"Yes!" Huo Lang waved his hand, and in an instant, more than a dozen riders galloped out. In a moment, they rushed in front of those figures!
The cavalry rushed over, and these figures had no time to react. Liu Ruyi only heard a scream, but a moment later, he saw those figures kneeling on the ground, pattering, and wailing and crying!
Liu Ruyi was still a little surprised, but saw that Huo Lang had already brought them back!
Sure enough, they were a group of women, but what Liu Ruyi didn't expect was that they, they turned out to be a group of Han women!
"General, general! You are the compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva. Please save us! We are Han people! We are willing to work as cows and horses to repay the general's kindness!" These dozen women did not expect that,
Deep in the grassland, they unexpectedly encountered the Ming army. They all knelt down in front of Liu Ruyi and begged!
Liu Ruyi was also a little surprised, and hurriedly asked people to help them up, and asked: "Since you are women of the Han family, how come you are here?"
The leading woman knelt on the ground again and cried sadly: "General, we were all originally from the Ming Dynasty! But in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, the Qing army entered the pass and broke through our hometown of Linqing City! We were killed by those Qing troops.
, were brought back outside the customs! They treated us as slaves, animals, no! Even worse than animals, they treated us..."
The woman really couldn't talk anymore and cried loudly. After a long time, she calmed down and then said: "They had enough fun with us and gave us to these Mongolians! But these Mongolians are not good at all."
People! The Qing army treats us as playthings, but those Mongolians treat us as livestock! We don’t have enough to eat or wear warm clothes every day! We also have to do the dirtiest and most tiring work! When we came, there were
There are more than a hundred sisters, but now, there are only a dozen of us left!"
More than a dozen women were wailing and heartbroken. Liu Ruyi's heart was also filled with waves and unbearable anger!
After a long time, Liu Ruyi calmed down her emotions, walked to the leading woman, tried to calm down her emotions, and said softly: "Why did you come to this river so early in the morning? What if you met a wolf?
What to do with the group?”
"General, if we encounter a pack of wolves, it will be over! We will save us from being treated like animals again by those Mongolians!" The leading woman burst into tears and kowtowed so hard that blood came from her forehead!
Liu Ruyi looked at her face carefully and realized that this woman looked old, but in fact, her eyebrows were clearly very young!
Obviously, the wind and frost on the grassland caused this young woman to lose her beautiful youth early!
"Come here, get them some clean water to drink, and put some clothes on them!" Liu Ruyi felt indescribable in her heart and hurriedly ordered the soldiers around her.
"Yes!" Soon, the soldiers took out the kettle, let these women drink some cold water, and put some military uniforms on them.
It took a while for these women to slowly calm down!
Seeing that their emotions had stabilized, Liu Ruyi said: "You are from Linqing, but I am from Zhangqiu! You must have heard my name before! I am Zhangqiu Liu Ruyi! I am sorry for you.
!”
After Liu Ruyi finished speaking, he bowed deeply to these women!
"What? You, you are Liu Ruyi, General Liu?" The leading woman was also shocked, and tears couldn't help but well up!