In the wilderness of the mountains and forests, a team of mules and horses is winding and turning between the mountain roads, the scale of this mule team is not very large, and there are only about 30 mules and horses pulling goods, and there are several large carts with people sitting on the wheels during the period. Behind the mule team were a dozen guards on horseback, all of whom carried short swords and spears on their waists, and each one looked imposing.

Yao Huilan was in a big cart in the middle of the mule team, her hair fluffy and a bun held behind her head, and her dress reminded others all the time that this was a married woman. Yao Huilan also dressed as a married woman and several of her female classmates, and after leaving Beiping, these young students all dressed in disguise.

Led by experienced guides, the mule team marches at an unhurried pace, crossing the mountains beneath their feet in the most physically economical way. As noon passed, the mule team had finally crossed the last ridge in sight, and the men and pack horses seemed relieved that the hardest road had passed, but the dangerous road was coming.

A well-dressed middle-aged man wearing a felt hat came to the guards and bowed, and then lowered his voice and asked, "Captain Ma, do you want to rest at the Pheasant Ridge in front?" The person who spoke was Sun Wencai, the steward of the mule team, and he had walked this road dozens of times, and he knew best where to be vigilant and where to rest along the way, and he arranged the journey along the way.

Ma Tie, who was sitting on horseback, retracted his thoughts, waved his hand casually and said, "You are in charge of this mule team now, we have already agreed that we will listen to you all the way!" Ma Tie knew that although the road chosen by Sun Wencai was not too far, the mountain road along the way was rugged and difficult, but fortunately, the most difficult road for pack horses had passed, but for Sun Wencai, the dangerous road had just begun, just like the pheasant ridge that was approaching in front. Since ancient times, the mule and horse mountain road has never been peaceful, and there has never been a lack of bandits and horse thieves to fight along the way to travel business, and Pheasant Ridge is one of them.

Pheasant Ridge is a hurdle on this road, but if you want to bypass Pheasant Ridge, you have to walk more than 100 miles of mountain road, for Ma Tie who is in a hurry to the destination, it is absolutely not allowed to waste more time on the road. Ma Tie said that he wanted Sun Wencai to make his own decision, but in fact, he asked Sun Wencai to follow the route decided in advance, so knowing that Pheasant Ridge was in danger, Sun Wencai had to continue to hurry.

The mule team turned a three-way intersection, the road under their feet changed from potholes to flat and wide, and seeing that there were no pedestrians on the avenue, Ma Tie, who had been cautious, immediately waved his hand, and some of his guards urged the horse to gallop forward. The sound of hooves, the two young guards quickly rode their horses and disappeared into the turn in front, Sun Wencai looked at the back of the escort cavalry, frowned lightly, and muttered in a low voice, "This year's business is getting worse and worse!" ”

Li Fu, who was following closely behind Sun Wencai, asked, "Shopkeeper, why is this?" ”

Sun Wencai tapped Li Fu's head with a horsewhip in his hand, and explained with a smile, "You see, I haven't met a caravan on this road, and at this time of year, this mountain road is the busiest time of the year. ”

In late autumn and early winter, it is the season when a large number of mule teams climb over this mountain forest, especially the cargo teams on this section of the road in Pheasant Ridge are endless. But Sun Wencai had been paying attention to the traces on the road for a long time, but he had not found any traces left by other mule teams passing here. On the flat avenue, the mule team walked quickly, and Ma Tie led the guards to trot for a while, and then slowed down, walking carefully in the middle of the pack horse caravan. There is no danger here, but Ma Tie has always been cautious, and this is not a place to let your guard down casually.

Yao Huilan and the mule carts that these students were riding on had been hidden in the middle and back of the mule team by the guards of the mule team, and if they were not someone who knew the roots, they might think that the goods on the back of the mule and horse were the center of gravity of Ma Tie's guards. In fact, Yao Huilan and them were the focus of Ma Tie's guards, and the goods on the back of the mules and horses were just a way to divert their attention.

Seeing that he was about to rush to Pheasant Ridge, Sun Wencai was thinking about whether to stop and rest, when he suddenly heard a commotion on the avenue behind him. "Tsk, which business can ask for so many goods, this business is finally improving again!" Li Fu smacked his lips and admired there, the lives of these people are closely related to this business route, and the more business trips they come and go, it means that they have business to do.

Sun Wencai also looked around for a while, then his face was happy, and he leaned over to Ma Tie and whispered, "Captain Ma, the scale of the mule team that caught up behind is even larger than ours, and we can follow them in a while, which can save a lot of trouble." Sun Wencai's proposal was approved by Ma Tie, and if there was a pathfinder in front of him, it would naturally be great.

The mule team stopped at the side of the road for a brief lunch, and when the caravan that came up behind it disappeared far away, the well-fed mule team continued on its way, walking four or five miles, the ground under its feet gradually became soft, and yellow and green turf appeared on both sides of the road. Sun Wencai saw a rut left in the middle of the road not far in front of him, walked over to check it carefully, and when Ma Tie arrived at his side, he turned around and said, "This should be the traces left by the mule team just now, more than a dozen carriages, and more than 20 pack horses." ”

Sun Wencai and the others followed the mule team in front of them far away, but they didn't know that on the bank of the river a few miles away from them, the mule team that had overtaken them at Pheasant Ridge had stopped at this moment. A long trench can be seen in the grass along the clear river a few dozen meters to the left of the road, and the dirt covered under the grass branches next to the trench shows that it has been recently excavated.

"Sixth, when will those people appear? We've been in ambush here for more than half an hour. With a grumble, a mess of grass in the trench suddenly moved, with thick eyebrows and a high nose, and a little stubble on the chin and cheeks. The short gun in his hand and the long-handled machete stuck in his side already showed him who he was - he was a bandit.

He was asked about a young man who was obviously in his 20s, and the young man was silently staring straight ahead of him at the moment, still chewing on dried meat in his mouth. Compared to the others who were a little nervous at his side, the young man appeared more composed, his thick figure appeared strong and muscular, and the confidence in his bright eyes was so reassuring that the others felt at ease. "What's the hurry? There is only one road here, is it possible that they can turn around and go back? ”

There were about 50 bandits in ambush here, and the stubble man who spoke first was obviously the leader of the bandits, but after the young bandit spoke, the bandits, who had already made a clear commotion, immediately quieted down. The young bandit seemed to have realized that what he said just now was a little inappropriate, so he moved his body carefully, leaned over to the stubble and said in a low voice, "Big brother, don't worry, the information this time was provided by the Japanese, and the Japanese also sent us helpers this time, no matter whether the matter is successful or not, we have the money to take it." ”

"Yes, before we left, the guy named Hatoyama told me that no matter whether things can be done or not, those gold bars are ours." The bandit leader's mood instantly improved, and his left hand, which had been holding the long knife, also secretly stretched into his arms, and the feeling of hard gold bars in his arms made his heart full of joy, the trade of 10 big yellow croakers could not be considered small, not to mention that he could get a mule team for nothing later.

When the two of them were talking in a low voice, in the trench beside them, several sturdy guys were setting up two Japanese light machine guns, not far from them, and two others were preparing a Japanese grenadier. "Sixth, you are a person who has seen the world, you tell me, why the Japanese are looking for us to help them do things this time." Rubbing the gold bar in his arms, the bandit leader whispered to the young bandit beside him. The bandit Lao Liu just squinted at the other party, and did not say anything to answer the other party's question, because a large convoy had already appeared on the road dozens of meters away from them.

The trail is never too comfortable, and in some sections it is even rougher, but with the surrounding scenery in mind, this seemingly endless trail is not too heavy. The three consecutive days of rushing have already made the young students who followed the cart lose the vigor they had at the beginning, and even the strong male students had already been silent by this time.

"There is an ambush, there is concealment." Before Ma Tie's heart-rending tail sound dissipated, Yao Huilan, who was sitting barefoot in the cart because her feet were blistered, saw more than a dozen flashing gunfire suddenly appear among the grass and trees on the left side of the road ahead. "Da da da" accompanied by a loud and rapid machine gun fire, two chains of fire flew from the direction that Yao Huilan was looking at, and against the background of the surrounding greenery, the fire chain that sprayed out the barrel of the machine gun looked unusually bright.

Ma Tie, who issued the warning, obviously had more experience in dealing with emergencies than Yao Huilan and her students in Beiping, but unfortunately his reaction was far less fast than the speed of the bullet fire, and before Yao Huilan jumped out of the car, he saw Ma Tie, who had turned over and dismounted and was already about to jump off the roadbed, was hit by the fire chain and was covered in blood. Although the power of the explosion of the ground mine was not comparable to that of the shells, it also caused a column of smoke several meters high to rise on the road, and the explosion even set off a skyrocketing earth to splash around.