The noise and shouting immediately lifted the spirits of all the soldiers, and the soldiers who watched from the high point of the embankment waved excitedly: the boats that had returned to the north shore had arrived again and began to carry the second group of people and horses ashore.

By this time, the rain had gradually subsided, but the thick clouds had not yet dispersed. In addition, it was already evening, and the vision became more and more blurry and dim. Even the most experienced boaters have difficulty judging the changes in river surges under such circumstances, so the process of berthing the ship has many unexpected difficulties. For a moment, the dull clashing of ships with boats, and between ships and the riverbank, sounded like rolling thunder, and many soldiers waiting to be landed had to cling to the side of the ship so as not to lose their balance; At the same time, you have to carefully protect the pine torches in your hand under the rolling turbidity waves and wind and rain, and try to show the direction. From a distance, hundreds of flames were reflected in the armor worn by the soldiers on the boat, like a giant snake with fierce scales and horns winding between the clouds and waves, slowly but surely approaching the south bank.

Inevitably, a few glittering pieces of armor occasionally detach from the serpent's body, sink into the yellow water, and disappear instantly. Northern Xinjiang is full of mountains and wilderness, with few big rivers and lakes, so few soldiers have mastered swimming skills, and once they fall into the water, they will not be lucky. But since its formation, this army has been accustomed to putting itself to death and resurrection, and such a danger will not arouse the slightest fear among the soldiers. When the boat was greatly undulating, they sang loudly to cheer up the boatmen. And every time they come nearer, they will arouse the cheerful shouts and cheers of the soldiers on the shore.

In the past month, the Youzhou Army has done its best to build the collected rafts, but in the process of the first batch of troops landing on the shore, thirty percent of them have been directly damaged or stranded; But the boatmen did not delay, they gathered on the remaining boats, and returned non-stop while they landed and led their troops to fight the thieves.

Thanks to their efforts, the second group finally arrived.

The leader of this group was Mai Zeming. This sleek-faced middle-aged officer stood on the front ship with a long knife in his hand, deeply feeling that he had caught up with a good time.

Mai Zeming is a disciple of Youzhou General, who has been in the army for generations, and was a very powerful figure under Wang Pengzu that day. A powerful local faction like him, who was forced to land on the battlefield, was to be dispersed, reorganized, and dismantled immediately after the end of the war. What's more, Mai Zeming asked himself if he was not a first-class general, and he was too steady in his use of troops to be conservative, and it was impossible for him to get into a very high position in the Pingbei Military Government, which was full of talents.

But the changes in the world are always so unexpected, just a few months later, Mai Zeming was transformed from a prisoner to a general in the Pingbei Military Government, although he did not rank among the main generals of the Sixth Army, but the status of the deputy general of the Liao Army and the leader of the Right Army of Du Liao was enough to be on par with Lu Yao's hardcore descendant Guo Huan. Although the old department, which suffered heavy losses in Weiyuan, inevitably underwent reorganization and rotation training, now it is only getting stronger and stronger; The size of 5,000 men was even more than the largest force that Mazemin had ever commanded.

What makes Mai Zeming even more proud is that in the first battle of the Youzhou army crossing the river to the south, he was the first batch of reinforcements personally designated by General Pingbei, and he was the first batch of new troops to pursue and expand the results of the battle!

All this made Mak Zeming full of confidence. He felt as if he was twenty years younger, as high-spirited as he had been when he first led his tribe to conquer the Hu many years ago, and felt that there was nothing he could not do.

After undulating in the turbulence for most of the hour, Mai Zeming was soaked with rain and rolling waves, and even in this season, his armor looked cold. But Mai Zeming didn't feel cold, as if there was a fire burning in his heart. Seeing that the dark and heavy embankment of the river was getting closer and closer in his field of vision, and if the ship came forward, it would run aground again, so he turned half sideways and waved his hand vigorously: "Soldiers, General Pingbei defeated the thieves in the south and personally took Baimajin for us." Now it's time to see us! Come with me, brethren! ”

As he spoke, he jumped out of the boat and trudged through the waist-deep river.

Crossing the river is an extremely difficult operation for any army, not to mention the harsh climate today. Before crossing the river, the soldiers had already moved back and forth and formed teams, and they had worked hard for a long time. Many people didn't even eat hot food all day, and only swallowed a few mouthfuls of dry food with the rain. They were half hungry and half full, but everyone was as high as Mai Zeming: "Follow General Mai, let's see us next!" ”

Mai Zeming's Liao Right Army originally had 5,000 soldiers and horses, and this time he went south to King Qin and transferred half of them. However, due to the limited capacity of the boats, only 500 people were able to land on the south shore in the same batch with him. Most of these 500 people are Mai Zeming's old background, and they are veterans who once followed Wang Pengzu to the east and west. After they joined the Pingbei Military Government, they all learned that today's Youzhou Army does not have those twists and turns such as the level of the family, relatives and friends, and the general Pingbei wants a team that can fight, and those who are willing to promote are also soldiers who can fight.

When this high-spirited force reached the embankment, they were greeted by equally high-spirited companions and hundreds of prisoners. The soldiers who had just won a great victory showed off their bravery with unconcealed smugness, and loudly counted the number of beheadings and prisoners. Some of the men said that when they were thirsty, they untied their pockets and drank some rainwater. Soldiers with a little experience know that after a bitter battle, the sand is filled with the smell of sweat and blood, and the rain poured on it does not taste good. But at this time, even the bitter water that is unpleasant to drink has become the wine they celebrate, the most beautiful delicacy!

Yes, these are meritorious deeds, and they will soon be translated into real duties, riches, and land rewards! Mai Zeming's subordinates saw it clearly, and their eyes turned red for a while. Many people suddenly shouted: "Here we come! We are the subordinates of General Mai of the Duliao Right Army! We can also kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds! ”

In the midst of the excitement, someone came out of the crowd: "Brothers, please take a moment's rest. General Mai, you come with me! The lord wants to see you. ”

"It turned out to be Commander Pang...... "Mai Zeming recognized that the person who came was Lu Yao's personal guard commander Pang Yuan. He hurriedly ordered his subordinates to rest on the spot, hurried a few steps by himself, and went with Pang Yuan.

Mai Zeming's position is higher than Pang Yuan's. But everyone knows that the guards around Lu Yao are elite soldiers and strong generals selected from the whole army, and they often use hundreds of governors as ordinary soldiers. Therefore, Mai Zeming did not regard himself as a superior, and when he walked with Pang Yuan, he consciously controlled his steps and fell slightly behind. The two of them passed through the soldiers who were scattered into several groups to clean the battlefield, bypassed the two hills of armor that had been stripped from the dead in battle, and soon came to Lu Yao.

Lu Yao has never held his identity in the army, even if he is the commander of the whole army, his treatment is not much better than that of ordinary soldiers. In this way, the canopy made of a few pieces of felt cloth supported by wooden poles is his office. As for the couch, it was a dead horse that had fallen to the ground. Lu Yao was talking to a few of the guards, and he didn't know how he joked, and the guards burst out laughing, all of them very happy.

Mai Zeming took a few steps and bowed down: "Lord, the last general is here." ”

"Zeming, come!" Lu Yao beckoned: "How many of your subordinates have crossed the big river?" Can it be immediately put into combat? ”

Mai Zeming puffed up his chest: "There are five hundred and twenty-five people in the right army of Duliao, and they can fight at any time, just waiting for military orders." ”

"Very good......" Lu Yao stood up and took two steps forward, and Mai Zeming realized that there was a map outlined on the ground in front of him. The sliced dirt had a suspiciously dark purple color, perhaps because the soil was soaked in the blood of soldiers on both sides. The map itself is very horizontal, with a few strokes on the mud floor about two feet square, which clearly shows the topography, roads, and cities of the river up and down, with Baimajin as the center.

"This is Hakumasin." Lu Yao lifted the scabbard and pointed, and then moved the scabbard slightly downwards by an inch: "This is the White Horse Base, and below it is the White Horse County." It is most important for these two places to control the throat of Baima Jindu. Although its leader has died or surrendered, there are still more than 1,000 thieves in the two places, intending to resist stubbornly. However, after our army defeated Wang Yansuo's cavalry, they were all frightened. I have sent a small team to take Cao Wei to persuade him to surrender, and with Cao Wei's reputation among the thieves, this trip will be no hindrance. ”

He also pointed to the west of Baimajin: "These two places are Wenshijin and Jianjin. The thief army sat at these two ferries with a powerful commander and stationed two or three thousand troops respectively. The defenders of the two places and Baimajin watched and helped each other, echoing each other and jointly blockading the river. Half a day ago, when we arrested the guards of Baishilei, the defenders of these two Jindu places saw the wolf smoke of Baimalei, and they had urgently dispatched 3,500 horses to come to the rescue. ”

3,500 cavalry is not a large army, but the Jin army has a foothold on its back, the main army has not yet come south, and the troops who crossed the river in advance have been exhausted from fierce battles. Mai Zeming asked loudly, "But the lord wants the last general to stop this enemy army?" ”

"Not necessarily." Lu Yao shook his head and said leisurely: "Zeming, in addition to the hundreds of people from your department, there are more than 1,000 elites from Guo Huan's department in the second batch of people who crossed the river, but they have not seen it in Yanjin between Huaxian and Ji counties. If the thieves shrink and defend the two Jindu, they will just return; Their rash attack is tantamount to offering the empty hands of the nest...... Guo Huan took advantage of this opportunity to conquer these two ferries in one fell swoop. ”

"General Guo is indeed a good general, and he will be able to win!" Mai Zeming hurriedly said respectfully. Since Lu Yao established the Youzhou military system, Mai Zeming and Guo Huan have been the deputy generals of the Liao Army, and they have had a lot of exchanges on weekdays. Hearing Lu Yao's arrangement, he was not only envious, but also secretly thought: After all, Guo Huan is the descendant of the lord, and such a heavy responsibility and great responsibility for the independent side can only be undertaken by this generation after all.

He thought so, but heard Lu Yao continue: "These enemy troops are not to be feared. But this alone was not enough to ensure the safety of the successor army to cross the river. Schler will not sit idly by and watch us cross the river safely, and he may launch a fierce counterattack at any time. So, we must seize a stronghold further south and choke the way of the thieves! Zeming, this is your mission......"

Lu Yao plunged the sheathed long knife into the ground, and said word by word: "Wating!" ”

Mai Zeming involuntarily asked, "Wating?" ”

"That's right. Wating is located in the north of Yan County, controls the north and south of the Pu Canal, and has Yangqing Lake as the backing, is an important city fortress to cover the ferries along the big river, if Shi Leruo mobilizes troops and horses to attack, it will never be able to bypass this place. Now, the main force of Wang Yan's department, which was originally stationed in Wating, has collapsed, and the strength of the garrison city is weak, I will now increase the headquarters of 500 elite soldiers to you, you set off at night, and you must capture Wating in the early hours of tomorrow morning! Lu Yao looked at Mai Zeming and asked loudly, "Can you do it?" ”

Mai Zeming raised his head suddenly, and his eyes were almost about to glow: "The last general will obey Jun's orders and will take the tile pavilion!" ”