Chapter 17 Second, bandits and bandits

After traveling for four or five miles, they came to the suspension bridge at the exit of Linglong Valley. Sima Yi and others were about to cross the bridge when Niu Jin, who had already run to the opposite bank, suddenly stopped and waved to them. Sima Yi's complexion changed, and he stopped, only to see that Niu Jin was lying on the ground quickly, and listened with his ear pressed to the ground. "Hold down to listen?" Zhou Xuan couldn't help being startled when he saw it, "Niu Jin, Niu Jin! It seems that you have learned some excellent martial arts skills under the master's seat these days..."

Sima Yi didn't answer the conversation as usual, but just stared closely at the scene outside the entrance of the valley on the other side of the cable bridge, with an air of facing a formidable enemy. After a while, Niu Jin jumped up from the ground, sprinted back from the cable bridge, and said to Sima Yi, "Young master, two or three people's footsteps came running about a mile away from the mouth of the valley. The footsteps sounded hurried and chaotic." "Huh?!" Sima Yi heard this, turned his eyes, and quickly pointed to the bushes beside the road on the side of the cable bridge, led them in hastily, hid, and quietly observed the cable bridge through the gaps in the leaves. The noise over there.

After about a cup of tea, there was a rush of hurried footsteps getting closer and closer, mixed with some shouting and scolding.Sima Yi and the others followed the prestige from the bushes, and saw a middle-aged farmer with bloody head and scars running up the rope bridge in panic. Xiliang soldiers with long swords are chasing and killing them! "Help! Help! Help!" The middle-aged farmer ran away in a panic, and shouted hoarsely, "The bandit soldiers are coming! The bandit soldiers are killing people and looting food..." Sima Yi, who was crouching in the bushes and watching, heard it clearly, squeezed the hilt of the sword at his waist with his right hand, and hastily gave Niu Jin a wink at the side.Niu Jin nodded silently, pulled out a short knife from his waist, held it in his hand, and waited for the opportunity with Sima Yi.

When the farmer escaped across the cable bridge and rushed to the bushes where they were hiding, and the two Xiliang soldiers could barely get close, Sima Yi's master and servant both shouted loudly at the same time, swung their swords and knives, and stabbed fiercely. He rushed out, passed the farmer, and stood in front of the two Xiliang soldiers! When there was a sound, sparks flew, and the long knife in the Xiliang soldier who was chasing in front was cut off by Niu Jin, and at the same time, he hit his chest with an iron palm, which made him wow, and the blood in his mouth was crazy It sprayed out, and fell two feet away, struggling with humming and chirping, unable to get up.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Xiliang soldiers at the back were about to turn around and run away, but saw a flash of cold light in front of them, Sima Yi stabbing forward with a long sword in his hand, the blade was already across his neck! "Spare the strong man! Spare the strong man!" The Xiliang soldier's legs were so frightened that he dropped the knife in his hand in a hurry, knelt down with a plop, and begged Sima Yi, "We are just so hungry that we want to grab a bite of food." , didn’t do anything bad such as murder and arson.” But Niu Jin stepped on the chest of the overthrown Xiliang soldier, flashed the dagger in his hand, pointed it at his throat, and asked coldly: "Tell me honestly, how many comrades are behind you?" Come?——If you don’t say it, I’ll kill you with one blow!”

The soldier was panting heavily, his face was blue with pain, and he could hardly answer. The soldier who was restrained by Sima Yi's horizontal sword had to be smarter, and hurriedly replied: "I... we both chased this... this farmer came to this valley in order to get some food. His name is Sun Ping. My name is Zhao Jia, and I am under the command of Master Han Jian, the Colonel of Liangzhou. I was scattered by the Kwantung Army in Luoyang, so I fled here in a hurry..." "Stop talking nonsense!" Niu Jin turned his head and shouted at him, "How many accomplices have you all come here? Where are they all now?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Let me tell, let me tell, Han... Xiaowei Han and his brothers are... having lunch in the village outside the valley." Zhao Jia stuttered a little with fright. "What lunch? It's almost as good as grabbing our village's lunch and food!" The farmer was furious at the front, and regardless of the injuries all over his body, he ran back and pointed at Zhao Jia's nose and scolded, "You guys These god-killing bandit soldiers! As soon as they enter the village, they grab chickens and dogs, pigs and sheep like hungry wolves, they are all bandits!"

Hearing the farmer's scolding, both Zhao Jia and Sun Ping lowered their heads, not daring to say more. "Uncle, how many people have they come?" Sima Yi thought about it, and asked the farmer, "Which village are you from? How far is it from here? When will these bandit soldiers come after you?" "A total of eight or nine hundred of these goddamn beasts have come here, and they are scrambling and fighting in our Xihe Village!" Reporters. They are only twenty or thirty miles away from here, and they will probably come to this Spirit Dragon Valley after tossing around in our village."

"Xihe Village? Hmm... In this way, we still have more than an hour to prepare." Sima Yi thought to himself, then called Zhou Xuan and Fang Ying, pointed at the farmer, and ordered, "Kong He , Brother Ying, you two should hurry back to the academy with this uncle, and report everything to the master in detail. Please master gather all the students in the academy who are able to fight against the enemy, and Huan Fanjun will lead the army. Hurry up to the cable bridge to join me and Niu Jin...Let them bring more arrows, gongs and drums, they will be useful later." "Oh! It seems that my 'teacher' hexagram really came true this morning!" Zhou Xuan was stunned aside, and it took him a long time to come to his senses, and he couldn't help nagging at Sima Yi, "Zhongda, how could they There are eight or nine hundred bandit soldiers! Including the old, weak, women and children in our school, there are only three or four hundred people in total, how can we resist this?"

"Fortunately, you have also read so many military books. Don't you know that 'the magic of using troops lies in the opportunity to change'? The strength of the troops depends entirely on how we command and dispatch them. If they are properly dispatched, their forces can be defeated by one enemy; if they are not properly dispatched His soldiers are bound to be reduced to one hundred enemies!" Sima Yi glared at him, and hurriedly said, "Master and Huan Fan Jun will make proper arrangements for dispatching the students to protect the valley. You two and this Uncle hurry back and report to Master, Niu Jin and I will stay and guard the rope bridge first."

Zhou Xuan was brought back to his senses by his vigorous shouting, nodded repeatedly, turned around to help the farmer, and hurried to the academy.After running more than ten feet away, he suddenly turned around and saw that Fang Ying was still standing still, so he shouted, "Fang Ying! You... won't you go back with me?" When Sima Yi heard this, he hurriedly turned his head to look at Fang Ying, waved his hands, and said repeatedly, "Brother Ying! Why are you still here? Go, go!" "Brother Sima! Although Fang Ying is weak and weak, she is unwilling to leave you and Niu Jin to avoid danger." Fang Ying straightened her face and said without fear, "Fang Ying is willing to stay here I will do my best to help you cope with this crisis!" "Alas! Fang Ying! At this time, you...you..." Zhou Xuan glanced at Fang Ying, then at Sima Yi, not knowing what to say. "Okay! Zhou Xuan, take this uncle and go quickly!" Seeing Fang Ying's resolute face, Sima Yi knew that Fang Ying had made up his mind and knew that he couldn't persuade him. In order to avoid delaying time, he had to ask Zhou Xuan He waved his hand and said, "Fang Ying will stay and help me and Niu Jin, you go back to the academy." After hearing this, Zhou Xuan picked up the farmer and hurried back and forth. Sima Yi didn't delay anymore, so he and Niu Jin dragged the two Xiliang soldiers into the depths of the woods, tied them to two big pine trees respectively, handed over their weapons, and stuffed their mouths with cloth balls .Then, he returned to Fang Ying, stared at him for a moment, and sighed slightly: "Why did you stay and take this risk?! This is no joke!" Fang Ying's cheeks flushed, she gritted her teeth lightly, greeted her with hot eyes, and said, "What? You are only allowed to be a hero by yourself, and no one is allowed to stay with you?!" Sima Yi's heart warmed up, and for some reason, there was a faint joy, as if as long as Fang Ying stood here, his courage would be a little stronger.After pondering for a while, he handed the long knife he had handed over from Zhao Jia to Fang Ying, and said, "That's good! Brother Ying, just take this knife and watch them both—whoever dares to move will be punished." Just cut whoever!" Fang Ying frowned, as if she was a little afraid of the bloody smell emanating from the blade, she tilted her cheek slightly, covered Qiong's nose lightly with her left hand, and slowly grasped the handle of the knife with her right hand, suppressing a surge of desire in her chest. Feeling nauseous, he nodded desperately. Sima Yi stretched out his hand and patted his shoulder, and said with a slight smile, "Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! As long as our brothers and sisters unite as one, we will be able to defeat this group of bandits in one fell swoop—be careful and watch them closely!" Strange to say, for some reason, after hearing what Sima Yi said, Fang Ying's heart gradually calmed down, and the faint fear gradually faded away.He nodded to Sima Yi, and really mustered up the courage to stand by the two Xiliang soldiers with a sharp knife. Sima Yi and Niu Jin came out of the woods and stood at the end of the cable bridge.He pondered for a moment, then told Niu Jin: "Let's do this! Let's find some branches and dead leaves, pile them on the bridge head here, and get the fire pockets ready! What if the bandits come after them and the students are still there?" If we don’t arrive—we’ll burn the cable bridge! Let them not get through for a while!” "My lord is thoughtful!" Niu Jin praised, and rushed into the woods with Sima Yi to find firewood.It didn't take long for them to pile up a large pile of firewood and dead branches on the bridgehead.At the same time, they also lit a cluster of flames in the open space eight feet away from the bridgehead.If the bandit soldiers came suddenly, the two of them only needed to throw the burning firewood to the firewood pile at the bridge head, and then cut the suspension cables of the cable bridge with their knives. It would be difficult for the bandit soldiers to cross the bridge for a while... After about half an hour, only the sound of footsteps came from the plank road of Linglong Valley.Sima Yi looked back and saw Huan Fan, Zhou Xuan, Hu Zhao and others leading two or three hundred students rushing towards them with sticks and knives in hand, and they were in front of them in a blink of an eye. Huan Fan rushed to the front with a solemn face. When he saw Sima Yi, he called out, "Zhongda! Where are those bandit soldiers?" Sima Yi went forward, waved his hand to signal them softly, then approached Huan Fan and said in a low voice, "The bandits haven't arrived yet—Brother Huan, how many of our classmates are here?" "Two hundred and seventy-eight people." Huan Fan replied casually, and at the same time, his eyes were like lightning, he swept Sima Yi's face, and asked him directly, "Does Zhongda have a strategy in mind to deal with the enemy?" Sima Yi smiled slightly, without arguing with him, he said indifferently: "Brother Huan has always been familiar with military books, and is familiar with military tactics - I am afraid that there must be a good strategy in his chest at this moment, and I would like to hear the details." When Huan Fan heard this, he was not humble, took his words, and replied seriously: "According to Huan, the two hundred and seventy-eight students can be divided into two groups at this time: one group is led by Huan, Standing on the bridge, waiting for bandit soldiers to come forward and strangle the bridge entrance, "one man guards the gate, ten thousand men cannot open", so that the bandit soldiers cannot attack; another group led by Zhongda hides in the thick bushes Among them, when the bandit soldiers are about to attack, listen to my orders, beat gongs and drums to boost our power, shoot crossbows and arrows to strengthen our prestige, disturb the minds of the bandit soldiers, and make them unable to understand our reality Dare to act rashly——Then, Huan took the opportunity to tell them their advantages and disadvantages with a three-inch tongue, confident that they would retreat in spite of difficulties!——Anyway, they just want to be full, and they don’t really want to. Fight us hard!" "Brother Huan is such a good plan! What you see is exactly the same as Yi." Sima Yi smiled and nodded in praise, then suddenly changed the subject and asked, "I don't know who Master has appointed to lead this anti-bandit and protect the valley today? Is it Brother Huan?" Is it?" "This... this..." Huan Fan showed embarrassment and was at a loss for words. Sima Yi glanced at Zhou Xuan's face.Zhou Xuan glanced at Huan Fan, then lowered his head slightly, still hesitating and hawing. Seeing this, Hu Zhao stood up and said solemnly: "Zhongda... Before leaving, master, I solemnly ordered: Today's anti-bandit protection of the valley is under your full authority, and we must obey you as we obey the master's arrangement. scheduling." "That's good! Time is tight and there is no delay. Everything must be done according to the strategy that Brother Huan said." Sima Yi cast a very grateful look at Hu Zhao, took his words as an arrow, and immediately Commanded up, "However, I want to make a small adjustment to this strategy: Niu Jin and I will be left on the bridge, and the rest of the students will be led by Mr. Huan Fan, and they will hide in the depths of the woods. Everyone must strictly observe discipline." , not to act presumptuously, so as not to disturb the overall situation—at the same time, we must be careful, cooperate closely, and not panic, let alone act rashly!" "Yes!" Everyone answered in unison. "Hey... since the master has given you the power of command and dispatch, Huan must obey." Although Huan Fan was a little unconvinced, he had no choice but to nod and obey, "Zhongda, I will protect you all from behind! If the bandit soldiers forcibly break into the cable bridge, Huan will be the first to rush out to help you." Sima Yi looked at the murderous look on Huan Fan's face, and sighed secretly in his heart: "Sun Tzu's Art of War" said: "The first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the next is to attack the city." Subduing the enemy is not fighting." I, Sima Zhongda, hoped to drive this group of bandit soldiers out of the valley without any harm! He turned around to look at the top of the bridge, and suddenly remembered something, and turned his head and asked loudly to the students who were about to enter the woods to hide: "I forgot one thing just now-are there any brave students, would you like to join me?" Stay with me and Niu Jin to roast wild pheasants by the fire at the bridge head?" "Me!" Two deep and powerful voices sounded almost simultaneously.Sima Yi took a look, and saw that one of them was Hu Zhao, and the other was Liu Yin, the dutiful son who was always willing to collect money. He pondered for a while and replied: "Brother Hu, let's go into the woods and help Brother Huan protect us in time—Liu Jun will stay and accompany me and Niu Jin to eat roasted wild pheasants!" Although it was hard to grab a lunch in Xihe Village outside Linglong Valley, it can be regarded as casually alleviating the hunger pain of himself and the eight or nine hundred Xiliang remnants under his command for several days, but Liangzhou Captain Han Jian I couldn't be happier.The food they snatched from Xihe Village can only be used for another half a month at most, so what should they do after this half month?When will the days of grabbing the last meal but not the next meal come to an end? Han Jian was originally born in Xiaolian, Wuwei County, Liangzhou. He followed Grand Master Dong Zhuo to Luoyang, and it is said that he was ordered by His Majesty the Son of Heaven to "eradicate eunuchs and clear the king's side"—how excited Han Jian was at that time! !I really thought this was my chance to make contributions!Unexpectedly, the situation has changed in the past few years-Dong Taishi, who brought them to the king of Jingqin and "suppressed the emperor", was later beaten as a "rebel who steals the country". After his head was beheaded, his body was exposed to the sun in the street In three days, Han Jian and other Xiliang soldiers were also regarded as public enemies of the world, and were attacked from both sides by the court ministers and the Kanto princes!In the end, he became a bandit soldier that everyone scolded... As long as Han Jian thought of these past events, he would feel extremely depressed, and he almost wanted to hack at the sky with a knife to vent his frustration.However, in the face of his soldiers who came all the way from Liangzhou, he couldn't just let go, so he had to drag them to live by plundering, while fleeing back to their hometown Liangzhou. While he was deep in thought, the lieutenant general Hu Meng, who was full of food and drinks at the first farmer's house in the east of the village, ran over with greasy mouth and said, "Lieutenant Han, I have some good news for you." "What good news?" Han Jian glared at him angrily, "Don't try to make our school Wei Bai happy with some hearsay!" "This time it's true!" Hu Meng was so excited that his face glowed red, "I heard from the farmers in the village that there is a Linglong Valley twenty or thirty miles away from this village, and there is a purple... …Zihua Xueyuan, there are three or four hundred Confucian scholars living in it. It is estimated that there must be a lot of food in them—otherwise, the army is in chaos, how can they have leisure time to study and study scriptures hungry? If there is no food in the valley, even if there is only Thirty or forty Confucian scholars, I am afraid they will all run away hungry." "Oh—that's what happened!" Han Jian thought it was some great news. After hearing this, he curled his lips and said coldly, "This news has been reported by some brothers a long time ago. Our school captain also asked some villagers - I heard that there lived a master of Confucianism in the Linglong Valley, a master of the outside world, with three or four hundred disciples under him, with great virtue and knowledge, you want to grab their food , I'm afraid it will be a little tricky." "Hey! Don't care what Confucianism masters or outsiders are, after all, they are just sour talents with no strength!" Hu Meng originally wanted to call them "stinky scholars", but when he thought of the Korean school in front of him Wei was born in Xiaolian, so he didn't dare to go too far, and changed his words to "sour scholar", "Our Xiliang soldiers are invincible in the world, why are you afraid of him?" "Sour talents should not be underestimated sometimes—have you forgotten Jia Xu, Jia Wen, our fellow Liangzhou Renshi, the mastermind of General Li Jue, Jia Wen and your lord?" Han Jian frowned, and glanced at him, "His How powerful is his strategy and his means, who can provoke him?" "Master Jia Xu is of course a powerful character, but among these Confucian scholars there are quite a few who have vain names, so there is no need for Han Xiaowei to hesitate..." Hu Meng swallowed, still very unwilling, "let it go If you don’t grab so much food in Linglong Valley, what will you guys do if you’re hungry in the future? We still have to fight it out—we’ll grab it if we win, or run away if we don’t win..." After hearing this, Han Jian felt that this was the only way to do it. He nodded and said, "Okay! Send the order down: leave 200 brothers in this village to guard, and the rest of the brothers will all set out in full gear and arrive at the village. That Spirit Dragon Valley, go and have a look!"