Shuangshantai, this place belongs to the jurisdiction of Guangning Zuotunwei, and the nearest guard fort is Weijialing Pass, which is dozens of miles away. There were about 400 Ming troops stationed there, mainly responsible for defending against the Mongols west of Shuangshantai. The year before last, that is, in the 35th year of Wanli, the Mongols from Hexi attacked Weijialing Pass and took away thousands of border people, which shook Liaodong.

Li Chengliang, the commander of the capital, was furious and ordered He Shixian, the general of Yizhou, to lead the army to conquer, sweeping away several Mongolian tribes in one fell swoop and capturing many people. Later, because he learned that the Jurchens were involved in the robbery, Li Chengliang made a big effort to conquer the Jurchen Taining Ministry, Yehe Jurchen Qingjianu, and Yangjianu. At the same time, the Jianzhou Jurchen Nuerhachi took advantage of the situation to encroach on the Haixi Jurchens, and their power grew in one fell swoop, and it is said that they already have tens of thousands of elite soldiers.

More than 100 years ago, Shuangshantai was the location of the Ming army's iron mine, but later because the iron ore resources were not abundant, it could not provide enough minerals for the Ming army to exercise weapons, so it was abandoned. Now it is completely in ruins, and only hunters who go up the mountain to hunt will settle here.

The nearby Weijialing Guan Ming army garrison will not come here, these years Shuangshantai gradually fell into the Liaodong bandits' paradise, because this place is located in the deep mountains, the east can enter Liaodong, the west can retreat into Mongolia, the north can drill into the Jurchen, advance and retreat is very free.

These Liaodong bandits include Han Chinese, Jurchens, Mongols, and even Koreans, all of whom are unruly strongmen who are accustomed to robbing on horseback. The target of the robbery was uncertain, and the whereabouts were also uncertain, which made the Ming army, who had to be ordered to round up, a headache.

The Ming army in Weijialing Pass was not unaware of the presence of horse bandits in the Shuangshantai area, but firstly, because these horse bandits were vigorous and skilled, the casualties were very large, and secondly, because the horse bandits had a lot of eyeliner, and as soon as the Ming army was dispatched, they could get the news there. By the time the Ming army passed in a big way, the people had already run away and disappeared. Therefore, unless Shangguan strictly ordered and other guards cooperated, the Ming army at Weijialing Pass was absolutely unwilling to come.

On this day, on an abandoned road overgrown with wild grass at the foot of the green mountain, six or seven fast horses were galloping.

Immediately, the knights were brave and bold, and they were familiar with the terrain of this place, so they galloped all the way to the horse without slowing down, and the sound of hooves startled the birds in the forest on both sides to fly continuously, and some small animals were also frightened to scurry around.

The knights' attire looked like some riding monsters, all in black hats and red clothes, some with long knives hanging from their waists, and some carrying bows and crossbows. If it weren't for the wrong color of the hat, looking at it from a distance, it would seem like the Ming army's sentinel would not accept it at night.

At this time, it was already September, and the temperature in the land of Liaodong had dropped earlier than in the Guannei, and it had dropped a lot, and if it was night, the mouth could be filled with white gas.

But even if it's cold, these red knights are sweating all over their bodies, and they are panting and out of breath when they step off their mounts, which is quite unsupportable. Immediately, however, the knights turned a blind eye, and continued to hurry forward with their whips in spite of their horsepower, as if something was urgent waiting for them.

At the head of the ride was a middle-aged man, who looked very vicious, and a scar on his forehead extended from the temple to the right eye socket. The scar looked very new, it didn't look like an old wound, the scar didn't look like it was long, and if you looked closely, there were still blood oozing out. With such a scar, coupled with the fact that this person is already vicious, it makes people's hearts palpitate very much when they look at it.

The scarred man rode in front of him, looking up at the sky from time to time, as if he was worried that he would not reach his destination at sunset. Fortunately, when the sun was about to set, they finally arrived at a river not far from Xiaozhai.

This river is not formed by the confluence of mountain streams, but a tributary of the Liao River, which somehow passes through this cluster of mountains. Fortunately, thanks to this small river, the area around Shuangshantai can be inhabited. If it weren't for the lack of mineral resources in this subway, the Ming army would not have moved the mine.

"Dismount and rest."

The scar man's throat was already dry, so he stopped his horse first, turned over and dismounted. The knights behind him also jumped off their horses and galloped briskly to the river, scooping their hands to quench their thirst.

The horses were also led to the river, and two men were in charge of it, while the others followed Scar Man to a slope.

The scar man raised his eyes and looked around, and after there was no abnormality, he nodded to a thin man beside him, and the man hurriedly took out a long cylindrical object from his arms and lifted it to the sky. This thing turned out to be a fume-generating agent used in the military for communication.

The thin man stretched out his hand to pull out the wooden plug of the smoke agent, and as soon as the wooden plug was pulled out, he saw a spark splashing at the top of the long cylinder, and then he heard a "whistling", and a firelight drilled out of the cylinder and rushed to the sky, and exploded in the air with a "bang".

As the flames burst through the air, Scar Man and his men stared intently at the sky on all sides, as if they were looking for something. In less than half an hour, everyone saw a fire in the northwest sky, and when they saw the flame, they were overjoyed, and hurriedly led their horses to the shore and ran in the northwest direction. After a while, they saw a few horsemen running towards them from the northwest.

The knights on those horses were also dressed in black hats and red clothes, and when they saw the scar man and the others, they shouted from afar. Soon, the two groups of people came together.

"Take me to see Grandpa Zhang!" The scar man didn't dismount, but immediately shouted at the group of people who came across from him.

"Good!"

After listening to the scarred man's words, the gang quickly turned the horse's head and ran back. The scarred man led behind.

The trail ahead became steeper, and the road was not as wide as it had been, with only one horse at its narrowest point. Everyone slowed down their horses and passed cautiously, occasionally keeping an eye out for falling rocks rolling down the slope.

After walking for less than half an hour, everyone's eyes suddenly lit up, and several thatched huts appeared in front of them, surrounded by a large open space, and many tents were set up. However, on the hillside, there are still many caves, and some caves have iron shelves outside, looking very old, I am afraid that they will not be able to be used for a long time.

There were people in front of them, and several men had been lying in the forests on both sides, and when they saw the scar man coming, someone immediately stepped forward to answer, and then sent someone back to report the news.

Scar Man and the others were all the way by, at least a hundred men were watching them from the side of the road, looking anxious and uneasy.

"It's here!"

Someone from the group who had picked them up shouted and the scar man rolled over from his horse, and someone came to take their horses to take care of them.

After walking for a small half pillar of incense, the scar man saw the Flying Tiger Flag in the middle of the camp, and several people came over, and the first one hugged the scar man, and then said in a deep voice: "Grandpa Zhang is waiting for you." ”

Scar Man nodded, and silently followed the man into a tent.

In the tent, a thin figure sat there, this person had a black face and no beard, it was Zhang Hu, the commander of the "Flying Tiger Army" under Gao Huai, the tax supervisor of the Liaodong Mine.