Chapter 904: Repaying a favor
You can imagine how shocked Chen Qin was when she learned this information.
Although he has not yet sought confirmation, in Chen Qin's heart, the woodcutter and his son should not have lied.
Although Chen Qin also came from the Chen family in Yingchuan, his family has always been poor. He himself used to collect firewood to support his family, so he knew that the father and son who went to the forest to burn charcoal yesterday were definitely not lying.
Most of the children of aristocratic families who do not like the fireworks of the world may really think that woodcutter is just picking up branches and selling them, but in fact it is absolutely impossible to make a living like that.
The reason is simple. If there are easy-to-pick branches nearby, they will definitely be picked up.
So if there are really many branches, they must be far away from the gathering place. Only in that way, those who have farm work to do will not spend so much time picking up branches.
Then who can? That is to make a living by collecting firewood.
Generally speaking, a farmer’s activity radius is about five miles. If it is further away, he will not be able to come back that day. Therefore, if the woodcutter wants to hit the branches, he must go to a place five miles away, which is generally sparsely populated.
But this also means that the woodcutters cannot rush back to the gathering place on the same day and need to spend the night in the wild.
In this day and age, spending the night in the wild means life is in danger.
Whether it is a wild beast or a snake, it can kill you.
And risking such a big risk, it would be a big loss if you just picked up a bunch of branches.
So generally speaking, woodcutter brothers or fathers and sons go out together, carrying bamboo baskets or pushing carts, but in most cases, they can only afford bamboo baskets.
But even if they carry bamboo baskets, how many branches can they carry? Because the branches grow unevenly, they can't actually carry much.
Therefore, you will definitely not be able to survive just by picking up branches.
What did the woodcutter do?
It turns out that their standard procedure was like this. Maybe before dawn, the father and son walked to the dense forest more than ten miles away, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.
When it was noon in the morning, they started to chop down the big dry trees with their axes, which were the best to cut down.
After cutting down pieces of large branches, the father and son have to dig a cellar, and then put all the wood in the cellar to smolder. Generally, after burning overnight, the wood will become pieces of charcoal.
At that time, they only needed to break up the charcoal and carry it back in a backpack.
This is not just a simple improvement in efficiency, but will directly increase their income by more than ten times.
The first thing is that it takes three kilograms of wood to burn one kilogram of charcoal. In other words, if they could only carry a hundred kilograms of branches back at the beginning, they can now carry a hundred kilograms of charcoal.
And because the broken charcoal is easier to carry, the father and son can carry more, perhaps up to 120 kilograms.
Then this means that by simply burning the wood into charcoal, the father and son can carry back branches equivalent to 360 kilograms.
After returning, they can make a lot of money because the prices of charcoal and tree branches are different.
Because charcoal ignites fire quickly and has few fireworks, it is very popular among the dignitaries in Linzi City, so the purchase price is also higher.
In addition, Linzi City is a famous iron city. There are hundreds of blacksmiths in the city, and their demand for charcoal is also very strong.
And because they mostly make sword products with high added value, they are more willing to bid for charcoal.
So, the woodcutter who really make a living by woodcutter all make a living by burning charcoal.
For this reason alone, the experiences of the father and son can match Chen Qin's cognition.
But because this matter was too important, Chen Qin mentioned a logistics officer in the camp while listening to the story of Qiao Cai and his son, so he specially asked someone to call him over.
There are hundreds of military officials in Logistics Division Guang's establishment, and it takes some time just to find them.
After the others found it, they were summoned to the camp and met the father and son who were woodcutter, after confirming that their origins were correct.
Chen Qincai finally confirmed this piece of information.
He asked the woodcutter and his son to be sent to other camps to rest, and then called over a dozen generals in the camp one by one.
He has to share this information with the generals to see how to deal with it.
The first thing the generals said in horror was to immediately call back the two commanders who were checking the hydrology at the Zishui River.
They are already very dangerous at this time.
Everyone just thinks about the consequences of the eventuality, and they are all sweating behind it.
Therefore, Zhang Xi, as the assault cavalry commander of Ding Sheng's army, immediately stood up and took the sentry cavalry in the camp to find Ding Sheng and his party.
At this time, Zhang Xi still has hundreds of horses on hand, so he can quickly go to the Zishui River to look for Ding Sheng and others.
Chen Qin did not hesitate and ordered Zhang Xi to immediately lead the sudden cavalry in the camp to find the two commanders back to the camp.
But here Zhang Xi hurriedly led the cavalry out, and the tent suddenly fell into silence.
The one who broke the silence was General Jin Quan of the Right Guard Army. He had been silent throughout the whole process, but at this time he suddenly said this:
"Do you think this is an opportunity?"
The dozen generals present have all served in the military for many years. Of course they understand what Jin Quan means. He intends to lead the entire army out of the camp directly to find Cao Cao's main force for a decisive battle.
It can be said that this idea is quite bold.
But immediately someone expressed different opinions on Jin Quan.
As an old brother in the army, General Tao Yong shook his head directly:
"That's not right. A large army must have a well-planned strategy when fighting. How can we advance with a light force? Then Cao Cao actually returned from Beihai. Who knows if he has exchanged news with the city? Once we take the initiative to attack, Cao Cao's army in Linzi City will attack us again. Yingbi, then it will really be too late to advance or retreat.”
As an old brother of Jin Quan, Tao Yong is the one among these people who can refute Jin Quan.
Everyone present thought that what Tao Yong said was right.
They have also launched several attacks on Linzi City in the past few days. In fact, they also know that there are many Cao troops in the city.
According to their estimates, there should be around 20,000 to 30,000 Cao troops in the city. The core of them is Cao Ren's Jishui Army. Although they suffered heavy losses in the process, there should still be around 10,000 troops who retreated to Linzi. city.
Although there are not many elite soldiers in the city, there are enough people to defend the city, and the defenders in the city are obviously very organized. The morale of Cao's army on the top of the city is always high.
So the Taishan Army had attacked several times before but failed.
Now Cao Cao's side suddenly returned to the north bank of Zi River. Although their number is not yet certain, but according to the fact that Cao Cao can attack Guan Yu's 20,000 army with such troops, it is obvious that Cao Cao only has more troops. Quite a few.
In this case, the Taishan Army, which has always had an absolute advantage in strength on the battlefield, will not only lose its numerical advantage, but also be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of distribution of troops.
So the safest way now is to quickly welcome the two commanders back, and then stick to the camp wall first. It is best to wait for Commander Guan and the others to come over, and then fight again.
In particular, there was an old man in the army who said something like this: "We still have to seek stability now. Besides, if both commanders are not in the camp, who can dispatch the entire army out of the camp?"
< br>
What this person said almost touched the hearts of many generals present.
Because the key to this is not the latter, but the "seeking stability" at the front.
Yes, the war has been fought to this point, and the world is about to be calmed down. And my king is a person who cares about favors, so it is conceivable that the visible wealth and good life will be Waiting for everyone.
They are no longer just ordinary people who had nothing in the beginning. How can they be as reckless as before? Why can't we win this battle? Do you have to take such a big risk?
Sure enough, when this person finished speaking, even Jin Quan, who proposed to fight, fell silent.
But Jin Quan was unwilling to give up, turned around and clasped his fists at Chen Qin and said:
"Chang Shi, what the generals said makes sense, but the last general still insisted on fighting. Cao Cao, Xiao Gan, no Will give it to us like this They are stupid, and even though Zhang Xi had just led his troops to meet the two commanders, if Cao Cao also led his troops to attack during the process, how could they withdraw?"
At this time, Jin Quan asked Chen Qin:< br>
"Chang Shi, I can lead my headquarters out of the camp. Firstly, I can help the two commanders return to the camp. Secondly, if Cao Cao comes with his army and our army is blocking it, he will not block us in the camp."
Jinquan’s second reason is purely from a military perspective.
If the army wants to form a combat effectiveness, it must form an array, and to form an array, there must be enough space to arrange the line. And if Cao Cao arrives quickly, the Taishan Army will not have time to set up a formation outside the camp.
Once they are blocked by Cao's army in the camp, their Taishan Army will truly become passive. At that time, it will be impossible for them to take the initiative to leave the camp for a decisive battle.
The rough guy who used to dig in the dirt has grown into a good general. As expected, the battlefield is the best training place.
Chen Qin thought for a while and felt that Jin Quan's suggestion was very reasonable, so he ordered Ma Bao to take his troops out of the camp with Jin Quan.
Both of them are large camps with more than 4,000 people, totaling more than 8,000 people. Even if Cao Cao's army is 30,000, he cannot annihilate them in the wild in a short time.
In this way, not long after Zhang Xi left the camp, Jin Quan and Ma Bao also left the camp with their respective troops.
At this time, the left bank of Zishui River was covered with smoke and clouds, and the war was about to break out.
……
Zhang Xi, who received the military order to leave the camp to look for the two commanders, almost ran to the back of the camp, where Ding Sheng's cavalry was resting.
As soon as Zhang Xi arrived here, he blew the whistle around his neck without even calming down when he looked at the assault riders who were maintaining their weapons.
The sharp whistle was blown three times in a row. The awakened assault riders hurriedly ran to the tent to take out their armor, and then put on the heavy armor with the help of the attached soldiers.
This group of cavalry is the heavy armored cavalry under Ding Sheng who is responsible for charging into the battle. The soldiers here have just put on the armor for the knights, and they have to put armor on the horses over there.
But before he did anything, he heard Zhang Xi standing on the wooden platform and yelling to everyone in the camp:
"Every officer is wearing armor, but the horses are not. The military situation is urgent. Let's set off now."
Then he directly gave an order to a cavalry general standing in front:
"Lü Chang, what are you doing?" As the vanguard of the whole team, I ran straight to Qiling Gorge. You are not allowed to stop behind the road. Anyone who dares to stop you will be killed by me!” Because the war horses are all tall, the people surrounding Lu Chang are full of momentum at this time.
After receiving the order, Lu Chang tapped the mirror on his chest with his sword, sang loudly, and then mounted his horse vigorously.
After a while, Lu Chang led fifty cavalrymen along the horse racing path in the camp and ran all the way to the camp gate. With a loud roar of "open the door", the heavy camp gate creaked open.
Then, Lu Chang turned his horse around, clamped his legs together, and ran out like lightning.
Behind him, Fifty Armor Cavalry followed closely and soon disappeared on the dirt road.
On the other hand, Lu Chang set off first. Zhang Xi directly asked the old official beside him:
“How many hand crossbows are there in the camp? Take them all out for me, and then take out all the hand crossbows in the camp. Bring out the war horses and let the attached soldiers come forward.”
The old official knew that there must be an emergency military situation, and immediately replied:
"There are three hundred and seventy-six sets of hand crossbows in the camp. I will have them taken out now."
And The attached soldiers below were all excited when they heard that they were also included in this camp mission. They never thought that they would also have the opportunity to go to the battlefield.
These people have been taking care of the lives of the armored cavalry since they joined the army. Although it is a laborious job, who has not had the opportunity to kill the enemy and make meritorious service?
Even if not, in a place like Jiaqiying where martial arts prevails, there will be.
But compared to the excitement of the attached soldiers, the armored cavalry were silent. They had realized the difficulty of this mission, otherwise the captain would not be like this.
Soon, when a handle crossbow was distributed to the armored cavalry, each of the armored cavalrymen had two, and each of the attached soldiers had one.
Then Zhang Xi stretched out his finger and said to everyone:
"Just after receiving the military order, a large number of enemy troops were discovered in the Zishui area, and the two commanders were there to survey the hydrology. Now the two commanders No one knows the situation, So we must set off immediately. And this time, we have only one mission, and that is to protect the two commanders back to the camp. For this, we can kill anyone!"
Zhang Xi's words are very clear. The target is death. All this also includes Lu Chang's troops who have just attacked.
Once Lu Chang's troops retreat, they will also be enforced by Zhang Xi and others.
The armored cavalry present are all Ding Sheng's fang soldiers. They usually respect the commander, but now they know that the commander is in danger, so let alone the past feelings, let's not talk about it today.
What Zhang Xi wants is to tell everyone that after leaving the camp, there is only one way to survive, which is to take the two commanders back to the camp, otherwise everyone will die.
But no one is afraid.
After saying that, Zhang Xi jumped directly onto his horse from the wooden platform, and then rushed out of the camp with 70 armored cavalry and 236 attached cavalry.
The speed of life and death.
......
The green grass growing on the slope was half waist high, and Dong Fang came here with more than seventy tooth soldiers.
At this time they were sweating profusely and panting.
After taking a look at the pursuers behind him, Dong Fang suddenly ordered:
"All dismount and take cover."
The military qualities of the tooth soldiers are all top-notch. When Dong Guan finished speaking, they controlled the horses and turned over.
After a period of running, all the warriors were feeling hot. Although their physical energy was somewhat depleted, they were in good condition.
Among them all, Tao An was the only one who was exhausted, but he managed to get off his horse. At this time, the inner side of his thigh was already bloody, and he remained silent.
In this way, everyone put down the war horses, leaned on the horses, and tried to breathe calmly.
Until a huge sound of horse hooves rumbled from a distance.
Everyone subconsciously held their breath.