On the ninth day of October, when the moon was dark and the wind was high, I couldn't see my fingers.

In Xinhui Xicheng, a long table was filled with seventeen bowls of spirits, and seventeen warriors who were about to go out of the city to attack the Guangdong Navy Division at night picked up the big bowls from the table one by one, and then drank them all in a big gulp.

"Brethren, come with me!"

With a "bang", Chen Mo slammed the big bowl in his hand to the ground, hugged his fists at Zhou Shixiang, Song Xianggong and others, turned around and grabbed the long rope and climbed down the city.

"Please wait for Jiayin quietly!"

Qi Hao didn't say a word, and climbed down from the city with a slight fist. In a short time, seventeen people descended from the city one after another, and disappeared into the night in an instant.

Looking at Qi Hao and his entourage, who had disappeared without a trace, Zhou Shixiang muttered in a low voice: "The wind is sluggish and the water is cold, and the strong man is gone!" ”

"Those in front are on guard, and those in the back are following!"

In the dark reeds, Qi Hao and Chen Mo carefully groped forward, this night attack was a matter of whether or not the Qing army in Guangdong could be restrained from advancing westward, and it was also a matter of life and death for everyone, so although the two of them had put life and death aside, the tension and apprehension in their hearts had not decreased by half a point.

Four people in the team were carrying waterproof bags made of cowhide, and the four bags contained a total of 130 catties of medicine, of which 60 catties were the only particles of gunpowder left in the camp. If the night attack was unsuccessful, it meant that the Taiping army had no gunpowder except for the remaining medicine for artillery.

In addition to the four people who carried gunpowder, the other six people each carried a bundle of dried bamboo. The Taiping army did not have sailors, and those who wanted to attack the Qing army had to have boats, and these dried bamboos were used to build bamboo rafts. Because the weight of the bamboo carried is not light, and the bamboo is long, if there is a bump, there will be a slight collision between the bamboos and make a sound, so these bamboos are tightly tied with strips of cloth, and the gaps are all filled with strips of cloth, so that there will be no sound on the road.

As usual, Qi Hao went out of the city to buy salt, and the Qing army still did not pay attention to the tidal flats in the west of the city. Except for the occasional patrol, there were basically no Qing troops.

The riverside was muddy, and in order to facilitate the way forward, everyone went out of the city barefoot. In this way, it is easier to travel on the tidal flats by the river, but it also makes these men miserable, because there is not only muddy ground under their feet, but also a lot of firewood tips are not in it, and they can be pricked and bleeding if they are not careful. But until I touched the river. None of these men screamed in pain, but they were silently groping forward, silently enduring the pain under their feet.

After taking a piece of mud to plug the bleeding wound under his feet, Chen Mo asked Qi Hao in a low voice: "The hour is almost up, people should come, right?" ”

"It should be almost there."

Qi Hao leaned over and glanced at the river, but the river was dark and where could he see anything, and he estimated that Wang De was about to come, so he didn't want to sit on the ground and wait.

Groping through the mud all the way, and carrying so many things, everyone was a little tired. Each of them sits on the floor to rest in order to regain his strength.

After a while, someone in front of me whispered: "It's coming!" ”

Hearing this, everyone hurriedly got up from the ground, Qi Hao walked forward with three of his subordinates, and Chen Mo led the rest of the people to hide quietly in the reeds.

The rare faint light on the Tan River in front of him was slowly approaching, and after the light approached, everyone saw that it was a small boat. There was a lantern hanging from the bow of the ship.

"Qi Laosi, have you brought enough silver?"

Wang De's familiar voice came from the boat, Qi Hao watched the boat dock quietly, and then said in a deep voice: "Old rules." Enough money is enough. ”

"Don't worry, brother, I am the most trustworthy in trading, and the goods are not yours."

Wang De jumped off the boat with a smile, and according to the previous practice, he was about to get the silver bag placed in front of Qi Hao. But this time there was nothing in front of Qi Hao, and Wang Demeng, who noticed that something was wrong, changed his face, subconsciously took three or four steps back, and said sharply: "Qi Laosi, where is the silver?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard movement from the boat behind him. Turning around to see the whole person, but I don't know when a few people have already boarded the boat, and the three accomplices on the boat were controlled before they could even draw their knives, and they were being pressed to the boat and couldn't move.

Wang De, who knew that something was wrong, had a cold back, and instinctively wanted to pull out his legs and run, but before his body moved, his neck was cold, and when he looked down, a long knife was already on his neck.

The blade has already entered the flesh, and Wang De, who felt the pain in his neck, was scattered, and said in a trembling voice: "Fourth brother Qi, fourth brother, there is something to say, there is something to say, if there is something that the brother can't do, please also ask the fourth brother Haihan, and the brother will make up for the fourth brother when he turns around, and ask the fourth brother to move the knife, they are all eating knife-edged food, why bother to break the harmony." If the fourth brother is short of money, this transaction is considered a brother's, and the brother will let people bring the salt up, and this will be moved. ”

Qi Hao interrupted him coldly and shouted: "Don't talk nonsense, Lao Tzu doesn't want your life, and I don't want your salt, I only borrow your boat for one use." You'd better be smart and dare to scream, then don't blame me for not recognizing people! ”

"Yes, yes, brother doesn't call, doesn't call borrowing a boat?"

Sensing that Qi Hao didn't mean to kill himself, Wang De's heart was a little settled, but when he heard that the other party was borrowing a boat, his thoughts suddenly turned sharply, his eyes gurgled, and he laughed dryly, and said: "Why, the Taiping army in Xinhui City can't hold on, and the fourth brother wants to borrow a way to live from my brother?" ”

"You don't have to worry about what I'm going to do, you can do this," Qi Hao said and threw a bag of things over, Wang De grabbed the bag of things and looked at it suspiciously.

"Fifty taels of gold lend you a boat, and you won't lose money on this transaction."

"Fifty taels of gold?"

Wang De's heart suddenly, this bag of things is full of weight, fifty taels must be there, gold is worth much more than silver in these years, take fifty taels of gold to borrow a boat, this business is said to be a lot of money. But what is the other party borrowing a boat for, is it possible that Qi Laosi really wants to run from the river?

"No more nonsense, get on board!"

Wang Dehu was suspicious, Qi Hao's hand holding the knife moved slightly, and suddenly the blade entered the flesh a little, so frightened that Wang De hurriedly walked towards the boat according to his words.

Here, Chen Mo saw that Qi Hao controlled Wang De, and hurriedly beckoned the rest of the people to come out, and everyone put the bamboo together, and after a while, they were tied into a bamboo raft. He tied the raft to the back of the boat with a rope, and then brought the salt from the hold ashore, and then carefully carried the medicine up.

After everything was ready, Qi Hao nodded to Chen Mo, who drew his sword and slashed at the battalion of the sailor division beside him without saying a word.

The unfortunate fellows of the three sailors snorted, and before they could even let out a scream, they were cut off the boat, and sank into the river in an instant. The boat was splattered with blood.

"What are you doing?!"

The killing of his companions made Wang De lose his soul again, but Qi Hao's voice came from his ears, "Take us to the sailor camp, or you will end up like them!" (To be continued.) )