"What happened?" Li Shang asked in confusion.

"Shh! Look ahead."

Li Shang immediately opened his eyes wide, and he also saw that there were more than a dozen men building a tea shed next to the official road about a hundred steps away. The materials used in the tea shed were very old, as if they were demolished directly from somewhere.

"What the hell is this?"

"They should be all thieves. You see, they all carry swords and spears on the ground."

"What should we do? I'm afraid we can't get through this."

Xie Zhiping patted his shoulder, "Cross the river first and walk from the other side of the river."

The two took off their hats and straw raincoats, slid silently into the water, and swam to the other side.

Zhang Xuan's army was about to arrive in Qiao County two days after entering Huanshui. That afternoon, the team was sitting on the east bank to rest and have lunch, while Zhang Xuan boarded the big ship and sat in the cabin to study the map.

He has been away from the Huaihe River for almost 300 miles, but he has not found the whereabouts of the thieves. Zhang Xuan is a little worried. After all, Miao Haichao's team is only a small part of Du Fuwei's army. He has been staring at Miao Haichao. Isn't he a little bit sloppy?

However, Zhang Xuan also knew that Miao Haichao was the main force of Du Fuwei's army on the Huaihe River. If Miao Haichao's navy was not solved, the Tongji Canal would never have peace. Thinking of this, Zhang Xuan had to decide to continue.

Of course, there is another possibility that Miao Haichao will fight back to the Huaihe River along the Tongji Canal, but if that is the case, it should be discovered by its own scouts.

Just as Zhang Xuan was pondering, his personal soldiers reported outside the cabin, "Report to General, the two scouts with the cargo ship have returned."

Zhang Xuan was overjoyed. He was waiting for news from these two people and hurriedly ordered: "Take them in!"

Soon, two scouts were brought in, and Zhang Xuan asked his personal soldiers to invite Fang Xuanling.

In the cabin, Zhang Xuan and Fang Xuanling listened to the reports of the two scouts with all concentration.

Zhang Xuan quickly found Bolonggang on the map, which is a branch of Jishan. The terrain details cannot be seen from the map, and he can only see that they are about eighty miles away. It is within Linhuan County.

"You said there were all reeds and water swaying there, and the ships of the thief army were hidden in the water swaying."

"Report to the general, this is true, but there are only a few of their ships there, most of their ships are still hidden in Luergou, with hundreds of ships, many of which are full of food."

Zhang Xuan found Luergou on the map again, about thirty miles away from Bolonggang. Zhang Xuan pondered for a moment and asked again: "Where are their main force?"

Xie Zhiping said: "There are about thousands of people in Luergou. However, after eavesdropping on their conversation, Miao Haichao led the army to hide in Jishan."

With the information of these two scouts, the situation immediately became clear, and Zhang Xuan had a certain plan in his mind. At this time, Fang Xuanling asked, "What else should I report, such as what abnormal situation was found along the way?"

A sentence reminded the two scouts, and Xie Zhiping hurriedly said, "There is another strange thing. When we came back, we found a group of people building a tea shed, using old materials. And the group of people was very suspicious, and they felt like soldiers from the thief."

Zhang Xuan sneered in his heart and asked, "How do you see that they are soldiers of the thief army?"

"General Qi Bi, they all carry swords and spears, all of them are burly and strong, and they are obviously not good people."

Zhang Xuan nodded and ordered: "Take them down to rest, each of them will receive fifty taels of gold!"

"Thank you, General!"

The two scouts went down happily, and Fang Xuanling smiled and said, "It seems that Miao Haichao feels that Gongsun Shangzhe will not tell the general the details of Yancheng's defeat, but he still copied it intact."

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly, "Since he wants to play, let's have fun with him!"

Zhang Xuan's army continued to set off after resting for an hour, but it was almost dark at this time, and the team became more cautious in marching. The march was very slow, and it took only twenty miles in one hour.

At the same time, Luo Shixin led three thousand troops to leave the main force and ran north along the Tongji Canal.

The next morning, Zhang Xuan led a large army to Linhuan County. Soon after, he saw a long-lasting tea shed next to the official road. The tattered banners and the bright tiles were covered with greasy tiles, and the horse stakes were polished by the reins from south to north.

As the army passed by, there were no guests in the tea shed. Several friends hid at the door and looked around. Only the fat shopkeeper stood by the roadside with his hands folded and watched the soldiers pass by happily. His small eyes flashed with eagerness to wait, and a hint of undetectable cunning.

When Zhang Xuan rode his horse past the tea shed, the fat shopkeeper suddenly shouted, "Are you going to fight the thief?"

Zhang Xuan couldn't help but feel funny. It would be better to ignore them. Since the other party wanted to act, he would just accompany him to the end. Zhang Xuan urged him to come forward and asked, "Shopkeeper, ask something."

The fat shopkeeper hurriedly ran forward and smiled and said, "General, please tell me, the villain will answer everything."

Zhang Xuan pretended to be serious and said, "I want to ask about a thief, about hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of people. Have you passed by here these days?"

"Yes! Of course there are. They passed by about five days ago. They were very popular. They ate the food from the small shop and didn't pay for it. A group of damn bastards, killing thousands of swords."

The fat shopkeeper became more and more excited as he scolded. Zhang Xuan waved his hand and interrupted him, "I want to know where they went?"

The fat shopkeeper pointed to a hill in the distance and said, "Then it is called Bolonggang. When one of my friends went there to hunt wild ducks, they saw them hiding a large amount of food into Bolongtang at the foot of the mountain."

Speaking of this, the fat shopkeeper turned around and shouted: "Five Dogzi, how many ships did you see?"

A young man ran out tremblingly and bowed, "There are about four or five hundred ships full of grain bags. I don't know if it's food, hidden in the Bolong Dang."

Zhang Xuan asked again: "Where did the thief soldiers go after hiding their food?"

"The villain doesn't know either, but seeing that they are heading towards Bolonggang, there are many people, densely packed."

"I understand, thank you for your information."

Zhang Xuan urged the horse to continue moving forward and shouted: "I ordered the whole army to go to Bolongdang!"

The army accelerated its march. Looking at Zhang Xuan's back who was leaving, a fierce grin appeared on the corner of his mouth. He seemed to see the scene of the Sui army's defeat and fleeing back.

Bolonggang is about thirty miles away from Linhuan County, and the west bank of Huanshui is more than fifty miles long. It extends from Jishan. When it comes to Bolonggang, the mountain is no longer high, but it is still not easy to go up the mountain. The mountain is densely covered with forests and rugged rocks, which can accommodate a large number of troops hiding.

At the foot of the mountain is a reed marsh about ten miles long, about two or three miles wide, with a shallow water, only as close as the knees, connecting the water through a canal. Countless wild ducks and birds live in the reed marsh.

At noon, Zhang Xuan's army arrived at Bolongdang. He was not in a hurry to lead his army into Shuidang, but instead stationed troops outside Bolongdang to rest.

At this moment, the soldiers in the northwest corner shouted and raised their shields one after another. They saw dense arrows shooting out from the reed marsh. Dozens of Sui soldiers were shot by arrows and fell to the ground screaming. The soldiers raised their bows and arrows to fight back.

Soon, the bandits who were ambushing in the water quickly retreated. The patrol soldiers caught a single bandit soldier and took him to Zhang Xuan.

The bandits knelt down and cried, "The little man has an old mother and a child at home, please spare your life!"

"I can't kill you, but you have to tell me how many thieves are hidden in the Lu Dang?"

"Report to the general, there are no troops in Ludang, but there are more than 6,000 people on Bolonggang, led by our chief general Miao Haichao himself."

“How many ships are there?”

"There are about 300 ships, all of which are official grains plundered from the Huaihe River."

Zhang Xuan stared at him with a sharp look. He immediately ordered his left and right, "Take him down for questioning. If he refuses to tell the truth, he will chop his hand, and if he refuses to tell the truth, he will chop his leg. If he refuses to tell the truth, he will chop his head directly."

The thief was so scared that he was scattered, "I said! I said!"

Zhang Xuan snorted coldly, did Miao Haichao really think he was Gongsun Shangzhe second?

The bandits were taken to confess. At this time, Yuchi Gong stepped forward and suggested: "General, the reeds here are too dense, we must beware of enemy weapons attacks."

Zhang Xuan nodded and smiled, "You are right, but I have already predicted the enemy's plan. I am considering how to use the plan and capture the thief army in one place."

Fang Xuanling walked up next to him slowly and said with a smile: "Does the general think Miao Haichao will be in the storm of Bolong?"

"I believe he was in the Dragon Dang, leading five or six thousand soldiers, and the ship was loaded with official grain, unlike Gongsun Shangzhe who used sand to pretend to be official grain."

"The general and I think, but the Miao Haitide should be on the verge of Bolongdang. Once the fire breaks out, they can evacuate quickly, and we will be trapped in the sea of ​​fire."

After hearing the conversation between the two, Yuchi Gong felt something. He asked anxiously: "Since the bandits set up a trap, what will the general plan to deal with it?"

Zhang Xuan looked at the reed marsh with his hands behind his back. He didn't know what he was thinking. Fang Xuanling and Yuchi Gong didn't dare to disturb Zhang Xuan's thoughts. After a while, Zhang Xuan said to himself: "More than 300 ships are filled with official grain, at least 30,000 stones. It's a pity to burn it with one fire."

At this time, the personal soldiers came to report: "General, he has confessed completely, Miao Haichao is hiding in Bolongdang."

Zhang Xuan turned around and smiled at Yuchi Gong and Su Dingfang, "This first battle will be handed over to both of you." (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!