On a hill five miles away from Xihewan, an old man with a broken arm was looking carefully for something in the woods with his grandchildren.
The granddaughter is eight years old and the grandson is six years old. All three of them are carrying small baskets made of bamboo strips.
They came to Xihewan from another village. The old woman and her daughter-in-law both joined the textile factory. However, because the old man had a broken arm, he could not work, so he had to take his two grandchildren to the mountains to dig some herbs to supplement their income.
Household use.
"Ah, grandpa, look there is a patch of fern over there. Lao Tan was still harvesting it yesterday."
The little grandson pointed to a pile of rocks not far away and shouted excitedly.
Among the cracks in the rocks, there are clusters of green wild grass.
This kind of wild grass is called phoenix grass. It has the effect of clearing away heat and dampness, cooling blood and stopping bleeding. It is not a precious medicinal material, but there are a lot of phoenix grass in this patch of grass. If you dig it up and sell it to Lao Tan, the barefoot doctor in the village, or the recent Chinese medicine
Zhou Jin, who is interested in the material, can exchange it for a few copper coins.
"I want to sell it to Sister Xiaojin. She has also been collecting herbs recently. Maybe she needs fernella..."
As the little girl was talking, she suddenly pointed to the distance and shouted: "Grandpa, come and see, there are many people over there!"
The old man followed the little girl's finger and looked over, his eyes suddenly widened: "No, it's a bandit!"
As he spoke, he pulled the two children behind the tree to avoid being seen by the bandits.
"bandit?!"
Both children were so frightened that their faces turned pale.
People in the mountains use bandits to scare their children. They have grown up hearing stories about bandits, and their fear of bandits has become very deep.
"Why would there be such a large group of bandits in Jinchuan?"
Although he had only taken a quick look just now, the old man could confirm that the number of this group of bandits definitely exceeded a thousand, and the queue on the mountain road was endless.
Where did all these bandits come from?
The old man quietly moved to the bushes nearby, followed the gap, and squinted his eyes to take a closer look.
Suddenly, the old man saw a one-eyed man from the crowd carrying a broadsword.
This man goes to their village every year to collect new year's grain.
His daughter-in-law was once bullied by this one-eyed man, and the old man will never forget it.
"Isn't Hutoushan surrounded by bodyguards from Xihewan? How come these beasts are here? They can't escape, right?"
The old man's thoughts changed rapidly: "Oh no, they don't want to attack Xihewan, right?"
Thinking of this, the old man's hands became sweaty and he wanted to kill someone angrily.
All his sons died on the battlefield, and now only his wife, daughter-in-law, two daughters and grandchildren are left at home.
He was the only male laborer in a large family. He was really forced to survive by the bandits' annual food supply, so he left his hometown and came to Xihewan to join his distant relatives.
Fortunately, they arrived early, and the old woman, daughter-in-law, and daughter all entered the textile factory smoothly.
He would take his children to the mountains every day to collect herbs, and if he was lucky, he could catch a snake and make snake soup for his children.
The family no longer has to go hungry and has finally settled down in Xihewan.
Seeing that life is slowly getting better, who knows that the lingering bandits are here again!
"No, I have to go back and inform the old village chief!"
In just a moment, the old man made a decision.
His wife, daughter-in-law, and daughter are all still in Xihewan. If bandits enter the village, he doesn't dare to think about the consequences.
"Dani, Niuwa, grandpa wants to go back and tell the village that the bandits are coming. You are hiding here. Don't make a sound. Do you understand?"
The old man hid the two children in the bushes and whispered.
"Uh-huh!"
Children who have endured hardship are extremely sensible. Both of their little faces were scratched by bushes, but they didn't say a word. They just nodded heavily and answered Grandpa.
The old man tidied the bushes again, then turned around and ran away.
He was once an old hunter, and he could run much faster in the mountains and forests than the bandits.
…
On the high ground outside Xihewan Village, the old village chief looked worriedly into the distance.
Although Jin Feng had sent someone back yesterday to report that he was safe, he never came back, and the old village chief couldn't help but worry.
Moreover, none of the men in the village were there. Although the men from Guanjiawan came to reinforce them, the young men of the Tiger Fighting Team were also taken by Guan Zhuzhu to rescue Jin Feng. Those who stayed in Xihewan were the old, weak, sick and disabled.
The old village chief was unsure.
Just as I was thinking about something, I suddenly heard someone arguing below.
An old man shouted something and rushed to the high ground, but was stopped by the female soldiers arranged by Xiaoyu.
The village chief had a bad premonition in his heart and hurried down to the high ground.
Far away, I heard the old man shouting: "Girl, I'm not going to lie to you, the bandits from Hutoushan are really here!"
The village chief's heart skipped a beat and he couldn't help but quicken his pace: "Xiao Lian, let go of the old man!"
"Brother, I am the village chief of Xihewan. What did you just say?"
"Brother, I came to see you because I knew you were the village chief."
The old man said anxiously: "I just went to Tiejiao Mountain to collect medicine, and I saw bandits from Hutou Mountain coming here. The team was so long that I couldn't see the edge. Village chief, you must make preparations quickly!"
"The bandits from Hutoushan were surrounded by Liu, how could they appear here?"
The female soldier obviously didn't believe what the old man said.
"I don't know how they got out, but the beasts from Hutoushan go to our village every year to collect the annual grain, and if they don't pay, they beat and kill people. I will never admit my mistake."
The old man was so anxious that he stamped his feet: "Village chief, you must believe me!"
"Brother, I believe you, but this matter is of great importance and I must confirm it."
The village chief was about to arrange for female soldiers to confirm, when three pillars of smoke suddenly appeared from a hill in the distance.
"Three streaks of red smoke?!"
The expressions of the female soldier and the village chief changed drastically at the same time.
Jin Feng has long been aware of the inconvenience caused by backward communication, but under the conditions of Dafang, trying to make instant messaging equipment such as telephones is tantamount to wishful thinking.
In desperation, they had no choice but to follow the practice of the border army and use smoke pillars to convey messages.
To this end, Jin Feng also made several different fuels. The smoke plumes formed by burning can not only last longer in the air, but also come in different colors.
It's just that smoke has always been a method used by border troops to convey military information. Ordinary people are not allowed to use it. It's okay to use it once or twice. If anyone asks, it can be said that there is a wildfire in the mountains.
But if you continue to use it, you are suspected of lying about military aircraft.
Jin Feng hasn't figured out a reasonable way to avoid it, so he hasn't implemented it among veterans.
Not many people know about this method. Apart from Jin Feng, only Zhou Jin, Wan Niang, and several regular users of Mancang's laboratory know about it.
The situation was urgent this time. Zhou Jin was afraid that something might happen, so he told Xiaoyu about it.
After Xiaoyu took over the defense of Xihewan, she had been worrying about early warning issues. When she heard from Zhou Jin that there was such a good thing, she immediately asked Zhou Jin to take out the fuel made by Jin Feng from the laboratory, and then sent female soldiers to the areas around Xihewan.
Observation towers were established at some key strongholds.
Once a suspicious enemy is found approaching, light a smoke column as a signal.
Smoke pillars of different colors and quantities represent different enemy situations.
The three red smoke pillars represent the most dangerous enemy situation.
Thinking back to what the old man said just now, the village chief broke into cold sweat.
"Xiao Lian, fire the ringing arrows quickly, three of them!"