The weather is nice, and the warm sunshine shines on your body, dispelling the chill. The leaves of the trees in the mountains have already fallen, showing red and yellow wild fruits, shaking in the breeze. Small beasts such as deer and rabbit are wandering leisurely in the mountains and forests.

In such a rare good weather, many foreigners came from the mountains to Dongjiazhai to buy and sell various goods. As a large amount of cash poured in, even the many foreigners in the mountains also had a few money in their hands. These people have developed a habit for many years. Once they have a few money in their hands, they will feel uncomfortable if they don’t spend it. In this sunny weather, it is also good to go to Dongjiazhai to have a bowl of wine.

The sun slowly moved overhead, and the weather became hotter and hotter. The Dongjiazhai Ferry was crowded and bustling.

At this moment, a large group of soldiers appeared at the ferry and slowly gathered towards the ferry.

A foreigner who was eating noodles under the shed saw it, was shocked, pushed the noodle bowl, jumped up, shouting: "Oh, it's not good, the officers and soldiers crossed the river to rob the foreign troops! Hurry up, hurry up, let the people in the tribe hide!"

As soon as these words came out, the surroundings immediately became chaotic, and the gangsters were wandering around were in chaos.

A street-patrol officer walked into the shed quickly and gave the shouting foreigner a big mouth and shouted: "What nonsense! This is the inspector's army, crossing the river and patrolling the border. What property do you birds have? It's worth robbing so many soldiers! If you want property, how many people in Dongjiazhai are there? You have to cross the river and go to the mountains! Shut up your mouth, it has nothing to do with you, and you must not make noise!"

With the intervention of patrol officers, the commotion gradually subsided. Seeing the army crowded onto the ferry, I remained silent and felt uneasy. A few years ago, various Song troops, who had been organized, crossed the Yellow River and plundered the foreign troops, often and the court was unable to restrain them. Even the area of ​​Tanglong Town was damaged by miserable disasters, the court issued a special order, ordering the court's troops not to plunder them. As for the others, who cares about them?

The unfaithful and destiny of the foreign tribes in this area is related to this chaos. In winter, the Song army will rob them, and the Khitans will rob them, and the big and small foreign tribes will also rob them. Most of the foreign tribes are nominally interested in the Song Dynasty, but it is related to the fact that the Song army has robbed the least.

Since Dongjiazhai passed the ferry, there was a mountain road leading directly to Tanglong Town, which was less than a hundred miles away. Zhang Ji commanded the army to cross the river and, under the guidance of the guide, went straight north. The army was very fast, and he wanted to occupy it before all parties could react. As for the surrounding small tribes, they could not take care of it. No matter how their power was, they could not affect the actions of the Song army.

As the Song army brigade entered the mountain, the foreigners in Dongjiazhai no longer had the interest in wandering around and crossed the river and returned. Regardless of whether they were robbed by the Song army, if so many troops suddenly entered the mountain, something big must have happened.

On the other side of Dongjiazhai, Du Zhongxiao led 200 Guangrui troops and most of the Baojie Army, as well as 100 Musket Township soldiers. He followed the road at the foot of the mountain and quietly advanced towards Bietouzhai. As soon as he passed Dongjiazhai, the Yellow River Valley suddenly became narrower. The two sides stood tall and steep, the Yellow River flowed in the middle, and there was only one line above the blue sky, which was very steep. This was a big road, but the border was blocked for many years, and there were no pedestrians on the road.

Du Zhongxiao was riding on the horse and was a little excited. After the abandonment of Biedouzhai, he passed Dongjiazhai and left the actual controlled area of ​​the Song Dynasty. Although he carefully collected information before leaving, the situation in this area could still be grasped. Unlike the opposite bank of the Yellow River, the foreign tribes in this area were disturbed by the Khitan and the Song army did not come to protect them. Fortunately, it was late autumn now, and the foreign tribes gathered in the valley to spend the winter, and the surroundings were quiet.

Shisanlang followed Du Zhongxiao closely as a guard. Looking at the steep terrain around, Shisanlang was both nervous and excited, and whispered to Tao Shiqi who was following behind him: "Shiqi, the terrain here is dangerous. If there are enemies setting up ambush on both sides-"

"Bao, bah, shut up your crow's mouth! We went north this time to the extreme, without knowing it, there were ambushers! Besides, this is the territory of this dynasty. When the officers and soldiers marched, no one would open their eyes and dare to rob us!"

Shisanlang whispered: "I mean, what if you don't understand? Those speakers talk about marching and fighting-"

Tao Shiqi shook his head repeatedly: "What kind of world have you seen when you talk? Listen to them! Hurry up and be careful of having a mistake!"

No one talked to him, Shisanlang lost interest and had to follow the brigade and rush to the road.

Baojie Dutou Shi Kaicheng rode on a horse. He was a little scared when he listened to the roar of the nearby Yellow River. He said to Guangrui Dutou Shao Qun beside him: "In such a cold and frozen weather, why did Zhijun think of rebuilding Dongjiazhai? Why didn't you wait until the spring of the next year, the weather was good and there was no harassment from the Khitans."

Shao Qun said lightly: "We just act according to military orders, what do we do? We, a military officer, are young and have not passed through the battle formation. Who knows what we are thinking? If we want to make contributions, we have to work hard."

Shi Tiancheng sighed, rode silently on the horse, and followed the brigade. The Khitans and the foreigners were going to nomadic, and they would not fight again when spring came. That time was the best time to build a fort. This was the routine for many years. Why did Du Zhongxiao go there at this time?

These volcanic army have lived for many years and asked them to guard the mountain villages in the bitter mountains. They were unwilling to do so. In the military city outside the mountain, there was no shortage of money and food, family reunion, and life was harmonious and beautiful. Why did they go to war?

Less than ten miles eastward, the Yellow River changed to a north-south flow, and the valley was about to become narrow. Everyone was a little tired and no one spoke anymore, but they just followed the brigade and moved forward mechanically. Only the sound of horse hooves knocking on the ground echoed among the valleys. After walking for more than ten miles, the Yellow River narrowed again, and the water flow became extremely turbulent, with endless roars.

Du Zhongxiao looked at the rushing Yellow River. The river water was close to the mountains and the two sides were no longer viable. Not far ahead, the road turned northeast and slowly rose to the mountain by the river along a relatively flat ridge.

The guide went up and crossed his hands: "Officials, when you get here, you should not walk through the river valley. When you climb up the ridge and walk along the ridge. After you go up the ridge, you will have an abandoned castle. You can rest there for a night and you will be able to go to Bitouzhai tomorrow."

Du Zhongxiao nodded. Before Biedouzhai was abandoned, there should be a place for delivery to pedestrians to replenish supplies. Perhaps it is the abandoned castle mentioned by the guide. The roads on the ridges are different from river valleys. The first thing is to have water sources and the rest areas are selected.

After looking at the team behind me, everyone was tired on their faces, unlike when they first left Dongjiazhai.

After calling out the personal soldiers of the command, Du Zhongxiao said, "Send the command and go up the mountain along the way! The road up the mountain is steep, and the army is instructed to take care of the horses and camels carrying food, grass, guns and cannons carefully, and do not make any mistakes! There is no accumulation in the Pitouzhai, so you must not lose the supplies!"

The personal soldiers crossed their hands and responded, beat the horse and went backward, and conveyed Du Zhongxiao's military order loudly.

On the other side, Zhang Ke's troops crossed the mountains on the other side of the Yellow River with difficulty and entered a relatively open valley. After calling the guide, he found out that he could go along the valley and reach Tanglong Town.

The mountains here are much more relaxed than the east bank of the Yellow River, and the population is denser. We keep seeing foreign people along the way.
Chapter completed!