At this time, Di Lie was most concerned about the progress of the pontoon bridge construction. It was hard to say whether the enemy troops in Xiangzhou City would leave the city to intercept them, but the liaison sentry of Guxin's forward cavalry would definitely appear here in two days. What is happening in front of him

In the chaotic scene, anyone who is not blind will know that something serious has happened, and they must run back to report the situation. The cavalry can kill them in less than a day after traveling more than a hundred miles. If they cannot cross the river in time, the consequences will be obvious.

When Di Lie rushed to the north bank of Huanshui River on horseback, he was satisfied with the progress of the project. The basic frame of the pontoon bridge had been formed, and the rest was just reinforcement. According to the craftsmen, fortunately, the Huanshui River was not too wide.

, and there are enough ships for building the bridge, plus sufficient manpower and skilled skills, there will be no problem in laying the pontoon bridge before dark.

Di Lie nodded with satisfaction and ordered that after the meat was out of the pot, it would be given priority to the bridge builders. Although these craftsmen in the official workshops of the Song Dynasty possess the best skills of this era, in future generations, they will all be engineers-level talents, but

In this era, their social status was not as high as that of an ordinary Kaifeng citizen. Being able to get the attention of a big shot called "Your Highness" made the craftsmen frightened and flattered. They kept lying on the ground and kowtowed, saying that if they could not meet the deadline,

If you finish the work beforehand, you are willing to accept the death penalty.

Di Lie was about to say a few words of encouragement when he saw a packed boat coming across from the other side. The first person to get off the boat was Ye Die'er, whose figure was as slender as a butterfly flying. And behind her, it was Ye Die'er.

Zhang Rong and other men.

Ye Die'er walked slowly and came to Di Lie. After bowing her sleeves, she stood silently behind him.

Di Lie noticed that her eye circles were a little red, thinking that she had seen something shocking again. Zhang Rong and his party who were following her all had heavy steps and cold faces. They were no longer as wanton and wanton as when they first met.

Crazy state.

When he came to Di Lie, Zhang Rong knelt down without saying a word. Then he raised his palms, which were wrapped with thick cloth after setting the bones, and cupped his fists.

Please be punished by my benefactor!" Then he turned to his men and said, "We, the men of Liangshanshuipo, dare to do what we do. I have done something wrong before, and I will repay kindness with hatred, not as good as a pig or a dog. Now I will leave my life to my benefactor.

You can't interfere and trap me into injustice, do you hear me?"

Jia Hu and other men obeyed the order dejectedly.

Di Lie dismounted, strode forward, grabbed Zhang Rong's thick arms with both hands, pulled him up forcefully, and said with a smile: "Seeing that you are also a good man, you don't need mother-in-law. What happened today is exactly what happened.

Two common sayings, one is that those who don’t know are not blamed, and the other is that they don’t know each other without fighting. How about it? Did the previous fight feel good? If it wasn’t good enough, we can have another fight while drinking."

Zhang Rong looked at Di Lie blankly for a while, then slapped his thigh: "What a good man, you really are a good man! I didn't say anything, I will partner with you this time."

"Partnership?" Di Lie was a little confused, not knowing what the situation was.

"Yes, partnership." Zhang Rong gritted his teeth and said, "I have already sworn in front of my sister-in-law's tombstone that I will bring a hundred golden dog heads to commemorate her, otherwise I will never move her grave! I have already killed one before, and there is still more to do.

Ninety-nine. The golden dog has great power. Just a dozen of us are alone. If a hero is willing..."

"If you are willing, how can you not be willing? You are welcome to join." Di Lie was overjoyed. This guy's fighting power is quite strong. More importantly, these guys are very watery, which can just make up for the shortcomings of his troops. .

"But we have a condition." Zhang Rong looked back at his men and gritted his teeth and said, "This partnership is only temporary. After killing a hundred golden dogs, we have to return to Liangshan..."

Di Lie was stunned, thinking that he was a bastard, but it turned out that was not the case. Come on, carry forward the party's principle of united front and unite all forces that can be united, no matter whether it is temporary or long-term.

Di Lie laughed loudly and patted Zhang Rong's thick shoulder: "Okay, let's do it for now. You bring your own people, and when you have a chance to kill the golden dog, I will let you go. Is that okay?"

Zhang Rong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and felt extremely grateful. He felt that this person was really trustworthy.

When it was time to apply for the license, the pontoon bridge was completed as scheduled. Di Lie immediately arranged for Yang Zhechong to lead 500 soldiers across the river first. Two miles away from the south bank, he used Luzhai and Juma to build a ring of fortifications to guard against the enemy in Xiangzhou. Zuo Kai and Zhihe led the remaining five soldiers. Hundreds of soldiers defended the camp, while Fang Hong's cavalry was all sent out to monitor the enemy's situation for dozens of miles on both sides of the Huan River on the south and north banks to ensure the safety of the Chinese camp.

It was night, and the former Jinjun camp that had been occupied by Jiu Nestle was lit by bonfires, with a roar of people, and the aroma of wine and meat. In the same place, last night, I was still a slave to cattle and horses, but in just twelve hours, I had turned over and became the master. , these thousands of Song prisoners whose fate was changed really seemed like a dream.

Di Lie, A Shu, Zhang Rong, Jia Hu and others, holding several jars of wine, toasted to the freed Song prisoners. After one or two hours, they were full of wine, but they also gained gratitude. It has established a "people-friendly" image and united people's hearts. No matter in which era, big figures can always easily get the support they need by lowering their profile.

Di Lie can be regarded as a person who tests alcohol in modern times, and he deliberately chose a jar of sake with a low alcohol content. As a result, he drank half the jar of wine and found nothing wrong with his gastrointestinal tract except for the discomfort in his bladder.

In the middle of the toast, a group of noisy people caught Di Lie's attention, and he asked someone to ask. Only then did he find out that they were the clan members who had not worked during the day. They protested that no dinner was arranged for them, and even sent soldiers to monitor them. It's really too much.

Di Lie smiled slightly drunkenly and said: "It seems that our people really can't intimidate these nobles who used to be so aloof! Ah Shu, put on your Jinren attire and use Jurchen language to deal with them."

Sure enough, not long after Ah Shu passed by, the sound of activity there suddenly stopped, and there were even screams of fear.

Di Lie shook his head. It seems that it is the same in ancient and modern times. "Foreigners" can bluff people. To the Song people of this era, the Jurchens who destroyed their country were equivalent to the foreigners who colonized half of China in later generations. Those powerful people The upper class may not pay attention to the common people of the country, but they are extremely afraid of the foreigners who represent the powerful forces behind them.

The Zhao and Song clans were already wary of this so-called overseas surviving prince of unknown origin. Seeing that there were Jurchens around him, they were all worried. I don’t know what this person has to do with the Jin Kingdom, so don’t be like your own. The Song Dynasty usually makes peace while fighting, and when the time comes, they, the Zhao and Song royal family, will be handed over to the Jin people... Thinking of this, no one dared to speak out, and they struggled to resist the strong temptation of the fragrance in the air, and their stomachs were turned upside down. …

As soon as it dawned, the intense crossing of the river began.

On both sides of the Huan River, dense crowds of people and miles of mules, horses and vehicles were bustling and congested. For two full hours, less than one-tenth of the people and supplies that were able to successfully cross the river were less than one-tenth.

Di Lie rode a horse and stood on a high hill on the north bank, frowning at the commotion on both sides of the pontoon. As a special forces soldier, he had done this kind of beach grabbing and crossing operations countless times, and basically all of them were carried out according to the regulations.

Time is measured in seconds. Where have you ever seen the speed of crossing the river measured in hours or even days?

But in the past, regardless of whether it was training or mission operations, the rescue mission only focused on the comprehensive physical ability of the individual and the teamwork. However, the current rescue mission of a large force focused on the organizational ability of the leader and the training level of the troops. And these two,

To be honest, it’s really lacking!

At noon, Zuo Kai climbed up the high hill with sweat all over his head. After kneeling down and saluting Di Lie, he almost couldn't stand up straight. He panted and said, "Your Highness, only 30% of the troops and supplies have been transported. I'm afraid I won't be able to survive in the dark."

Before, I completed all the requirements of His Highness to cross the river..."

Di Lie interrupted him without any room for discussion: "You can't finish crossing before dark, you have to cross the Huan River with a torch after dark! No matter what, we must all cross the Huan River before midnight today!"

"However, lighting torches after dark can easily attract the attention of the enemy troops in Xiangzhou City. Moreover, crossing the river at night is not only slow, but also more likely to slip and fall into the water..."

"The number of torches can be reduced. A dozen or so torches should not alert the enemy troops in Xiangzhou City. As for personnel and materials falling into the water... some small boats can be arranged on both sides of the pontoon, and Zhang Rong and others will be responsible for salvage." Di Lie said in a serious tone, "

Just then, news came from the sentry cavalry that Xiangzhou City has sent people to contact Guxin and inquire about the army's whereabouts. Although the contact personnel have been intercepted by us, we may not be able to hide it for long, so we must hurry, hurry, hurry..."

The left driver responded in a muffled voice, and without taking any rest, he rolled and crawled towards the pontoon.

In ancient times, when marching across a river, even if it was a well-trained army, it would take several days to build a 100-meter pontoon bridge smoothly. After that, it would take even longer to cross the river with people and horses. The same standard-equipped army of three thousand people in modern times

It may take less than two or three hours for the army to pass through. However, the infantry in the cold weapon era had poor training methods, heavy armor, terrible food for mules and horses, etc., which were enough to make it take several times the time.

to cross a river of the same width.

And Di Lie's army... was not even as good as the most useless Xiang army. It was at best a group of civilians fleeing. Not only was it chaotic and disorderly when crossing the river, but it was also congested and blocked, and some even fell into the water. Fortunately, with the care of Zhang Rong and others, people

It's mostly okay, but a lot of supplies have been lost.

Ah Shu's face looked ugly. These items and funds were all the owner's property! If the owner had been generous with the rewards, maybe some of them were his own, and they just sank to the bottom of the river...

But Di Lie didn't feel too distressed. As long as he could cross the river smoothly and lose some supplies, it was acceptable.

Finally, under the desperate efforts of Zuo Kai, Ah Shu, who couldn't help but come to help, and nearly a hundred soldiers who signed the army, all the people, horses and supplies crossed the Huan River near midnight. At two o'clock in the hour, Fang Hong, who was in charge of breaking up the rear, crossed the Huan River.

All the cavalry battalions withdrew to the south bank of Huan River. At the quarter of Yin hour, the inventory and assembly were completed, with one part of Fang Hong's cavalry battalion as the outpost and the other as the rearguard. Yang Zhechong and Zuokai's infantry battalion guarded the two wings, and the whole army set off. At the three quarters of Yin hour,

Under the protection of the rear cavalry, more than twenty skilled craftsmen who had participated in the construction of the bridge yesterday began to destroy the bridge and scuttled all the ships.

At the darkest moment before dawn, this long fleeing army, with many people and horses bound in hooves, passed in a panic through a dense forest path five miles outside Xiangzhou City. Perhaps the Xiangzhou guard was too convinced that there was a powerful force not far outside the city.

Because of the friendly forces, basically no patrols were sent out. Unexpectedly, a large baggage army of thousands of people slipped past under my nose.

By the time the Xiangzhou garrison received the news, it was already three days later when several contact sentry riders from Guxin's forward army were kneeling in front of the Yamen of the magistrate of Xiangzhou, all wet and with blue faces and white lips.

At this time, Di Lie and his thousands of men, horses and supplies had just rushed back to the village in Wurenshan. Before they could even get their butts warm, they heard an unexpected piece of bad news.
Chapter completed!