The escorts who came to Xizhou this time were all veterans and had the experience of traveling at night. In order to catch up with the group of Jianghu tourists as soon as possible, Liu Qi thought for a while and nodded in agreement with Niu Ben's suggestion.
"Everyone, please work hard. When you complete the task and go back, I will ask my wife for credit!"
Xizhou is located in the northwest of Dakang, in the Gansu area where Jin Feng lived in his previous life. There are many deserts in the territory, and the temperature difference between day and night is huge. Traveling at night is very hard and dangerous.
However, the escorts persisted and kept on traveling until midnight that day. At noon the next day, they crossed the mountains and entered Dangxiang territory.
Liu Qi had been worried that he would be discovered. Fortunately, Xizhou was sparsely populated. They didn't see a single person along the way, only yellow sand all over the sky.
"No wonder the party members are unwilling to take this road. They really suffer."
Niu Ben spat out the sand in his mouth and couldn't help but complain.
There are two roads from Dangxiang to Dakang, one is Qingshui Valley and the other is Xizhou.
Dakang sent heavy troops to guard Qingshui Valley, but left Xizhou almost undefended.
However, every time the party members invaded south, they would rather break through the heavily guarded Qingshui Valley than go to Xizhou.
Because Xizhou is too desolate and the army moves slowly, the soldiers will be extremely exhausted from here to Dakang, and they will also need to consume a huge amount of food and grass.
It is possible that the food they looted from Dakang was not enough for them to consume on the way back and forth.
If we encounter sandstorms or other extreme weather on the way, our entire army might be wiped out before we even reach Dakang.
Fortunately, Niu Ben and the others did not encounter such a situation. Under the guidance of the hidden stakes, they trekked in the desert for three days and finally caught up with the group of wanderers in a valley.
There were less than twenty Jianghu Ke. Although they were all masters and carried shields to defend against crossbows, Niu Ben and others also came prepared.
Although the grenade warehouse in Xihewan was bombed, several boxes of grenades and flash bombs placed by Guan Xiaorou in the back mountain warehouse are still there.
Knowing that this mission was dangerous, Guan Xiaorou brought some specially to Niu Ben and the others.
No matter how skilled the Jiang Hu Ke is, he can't stop the grenade.
Niu Ben and the others first threw two grenades, killing more than a dozen Jianghu people.
The boss of Jianghu Ke was also a ruthless person. When he saw that the situation was not good, he knew that he could not escape, so he directly used kerosene to light the wooden box containing Wei Laosan.
After Niu Ben and the others killed the gangsters and put out the fire, Wei Laosan was almost burned beyond recognition.
"This bastard died too cheaply!"
Niu Ben kicked Wei Laosan's body and spat!
Company commander Liu Qi also looked very unhappy.
Before coming, Zheng Fang specifically talked to him and asked him to bring Wei Laosan back alive.
Not only because of the public trial, but also because Wei Laosan was the only person besides Jin Feng who knew how to make fire-proof cloth.
"Company Commander, we haven't seen anyone either. Could this person be the fake Wei Laosan?"
a platoon leader asked.
"We can't confirm that the people were burned like this." Liu Qi said helplessly: "Take the body back and find some old people who are familiar with Wei Laosan and see if they can recognize it."
According to Zheng Fang's explanation, their mission was indeed completed, so the group began to pack their things and prepare to return to Sichuan.
Liu Qi and others were collecting the body of Wei Laosan in the valley, but they did not notice a pair of eyes staring at them in a cave a few hundred meters away.
This was a party scout patrolling the mountains. He was lazing around in a cave to enjoy the cool air, but was awakened by the sound of a grenade exploding, and witnessed the entire battle.
This place was less than twenty miles away from Dangxiang's border defense camp. When Liu Qi and the others left, the scouts quickly went down the mountain and reported the news to the border defense camp.
The top officer of the Dangxiang border camp is a patrol general, equivalent to the deputy commander of the escort agency. He has more than 2,000 people in charge. His main task is to patrol the border and prevent Dakang from suddenly attacking Dangxiang.
Dakang has been weak for many years, how can it dare to take the initiative to invade the party?
Therefore, the position of Xulang has always been a loose and idle position in Dangxiang. Most of the time, it is held by the Dangxiang royal family or the children of high-ranking officials, and is used for gold plating.
But more than a month ago, the gilded young master was suddenly transferred away and replaced by a general named Li Jishan.
Li Jishan was not a playboy, but a well-known young man among Dangxiang's army, and was deeply valued by Emperor Dangxiang.
Li Jishan did not come alone, but brought his team with him.
After arriving at the place, military discipline began to be rectified the next day, and the usually lazy border defense camp quickly became busy.
Everyone knew something big was probably going to happen.
When he learned that Dakang people were killing people in his territory, Li Jishan took it very seriously and immediately asked people to bring the scouts into the meeting tent, and at the same time summoned his team to rush over.
After listening to the scout's description, Li Jishan asked: "Are you sure they used a weapon that was loud and could kill people?"
"It's absolutely true!" the scout quickly raised his hands and swore.
"Do they have flags? What are they wearing?"
"There is no flag, and the clothes are the same kind of linen clothes that are common among Dakang people, but there are no patches."
The scout said: "But each of them rides three horses, and they are all tall and well-bred war horses!"
Li Jishan asked some other questions, drove the scout out, and then looked aside: "Mr. Nie, what do you think?"
"With three cavalry and grenades, we can basically confirm that he is an escort from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency!"
Mr. Nie answered while stroking his beard.
"The people from the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau have been operating in the south. Why are they here suddenly?"
Li Jishan frowned and asked: "Is it related to the king's plan? Did the people from the Zhenyuan Escort Bureau discover something?"
"This... I can't say for sure." Mr. Nie shook his head: "But the army is coming the day after tomorrow. The king also attaches great importance to this plan and must not let any news leak, so I feel that no matter how these escorts come,
No matter what, you can't let them go back!"
"right!"
Li Jishan pondered for a moment, then nodded and called a lieutenant: "Take five hundred men to ambush at Yaozikou, and bring heavy crossbows and catapults. You must not let these bodyguards escape, do you understand?"
Yaozikou is a canyon with steep cliffs of tens of feet on both sides. It is named because it is shaped like a waist. It is also the only way back to Xizhou.
At the beginning, the Dangxiang people had obtained blueprints for heavy crossbows and catapults. Although they were the first generation, after improvements by Dangxiang craftsmen, it was more than enough to block the waist opening.
"Yes!" The deputy general gave a military salute and turned to leave.
The border defense camp was not far from Yaozikou. The deputy general rushed there with 500 people, and it was only half afternoon.
They installed heavy crossbows and catapults on the mountain tops on both sides of Yaozikou, and then quietly waited for Niubeng and the others to arrive.