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Hutou Pass is 70 miles northeast of the county, and the situation is the most dangerous. Two mountains are thousands of feet tall and one stream is surging. It connects Modou, Dacheng, Huangtu, Muling, Yinshan five gates, and ninety miles of the city. It is the right arm of Macheng.

Based on the Dabie Mountains, it reaches 200 miles to Guangshan County, Henan Province in the north, and to the east are Luzhou Prefecture and Anqing Prefecture in the south. This place is located at the intersection of Henan, Chu and Anhui provinces.

From the postman's words, Liu Jun finally knew what happened in Hutou Pass. Speaking of which, it was related to the rebellion of the two bandits of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai. In early May, Zhang Xianzhong rebelled in Gucheng, and Luo Rucai and others from Junzhou rose up to respond and they attacked Junzhou.

After the two bandits gathered, Zhang Xianzhong sent people everywhere to contact the bandits' soldiers from all over the country, and especially sent a confidant envoy to the east of the Dabie Mountains, which is the Huoshan and Yingshan area of ​​Luzhou Prefecture, Nanzhili.

In this mountainous area, there is a very famous team among the bandits entrenched in this area, which is the very famous bandits Ge, the Left Five Camp.

Ge, the Five Left Camp refers to the five troops among the bandits. They are composed of the old Hui Ma Shouying, Ge Li's eyes He Yilong, Zuo Jin King He Jin, the reincarnated king Liu Xiyao, and the chaotic king Lin, and the five camps, so they are also called Hui Zuo Wu Camp.

The leaders of these five camps were all veterans among the bandits. Among them, Ma Shouying, the old Hui Hui, was a border soldier in his early years and later became a defeated deserter. In the first year of Chongzhen, he led the people to rebel. He first belonged to the King of Breaking, Gao Yingxiang, and fled in eastern Gansu, with tens of thousands of people. By the fourth year of Chongzhen, he fled into Shanxi and was incorporated into Wang Ziyong's 36th battalion, becoming an important leader second only to Wang Ziyong and Gao Yingxiang.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, he led his troops to attend the Xingyang Conference and became one of the leaders of the thirteen families. Later, he joined He Yilong, He Jin, Liu Xiyao, and Lin Yangcheng's army, also known as the "Fifth Camp of Huige" who were nicknamed "Geliyan".

After Gao Yingxiang, the king of rebellion, was captured and killed by Sun Chuanting in the ninth year of Chongzhen, the fifth battalion led by Lao Huihui was the strongest, especially when Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, the new generation of bandits, were defeated in succession and the entire bandit rebellion activities were at a low point, the fifth battalion still maintained its strong strength, and even Zhang Xianzhong defected to Lao Huihui twice and belonged to his subordinates.

The Fifth Camp established a base in the Yinghuo Mountain District, Dabie Shandong, and became an extremely influential branch at this time. Zhongdu Fengyang and Nanjing, which had always threatened the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other large groups of bandits were defeated and were recruited by the imperial court, they were still strong when they returned to the left five camps, and the government army could not do anything.

In general, after Gao Yingxiang was captured and killed, the peasant army active in the Central Plains went through a process of separation and reunion, and finally formed the Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai groups near Yunyuan, Hubei, and Xiangyang. The other part was the two major bandit groups, the G Zuo Fifth Camp, which was active in the junction of the three provinces of Nanzhili, Henan and Hubei.

As for the famous Li Zicheng later, his strength and reputation were far inferior to Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, Lao Huihui, He Yilong and other senior bosses.

Therefore, when Zhang Xianzhong rebelled against Gucheng, he immediately met with Luo Rucai, who was in the Junzhou area near Gucheng, and then sent a contact letter to the Fifth Camp of Gezuo, east of Dabie Shandong, inviting them to move westward to Huishi.

Zhang Xianzhong and others understood that after experiencing the eleventh trough, the peasant army in various places had greatly reduced its strength. Although they had to re-emerge, their strength was too weak. If they did not unite, it would be impossible to confront the upcoming encirclement of the government army.

After receiving the handwritten letter from the envoy Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Hui decided to respond. However, he did not immediately give up his own Yinghuo base, leading his troops to Xiangyang, but instead sent several small troops outside to cross the Dabie Mountains and open the way to the Qihuang line in the west of Dabie Mountains.

The Hutou Pass Inspection Department was guarding the important pass on the Dabie Mountains. When a unit of Lao Huihui approached, inspector Zhao thought it was just a small group of thieves. Due to his duties, he led the archers of the inspection department to pursue him, but he didn't know that what they found was just the scout forward at the beginning. After they chased them, what was waiting for them was already a large group of thieves.

Inspection inspector Zhao led his troops to fight and retreat, but he was surrounded. However, before surrounding him, he successfully sent a subordinate to report the news.

"Inspector Zhao said that the nine-headed bird Liu Gutou, who had defeated the bandit a few days ago, is now in Taiping Township. He asked him to come and find Gutou Liu immediately after breaking through the siege and ask you to rescue him."

The inspector Zhao was very clear-headed. After being surrounded by hundreds of bandits, he knew that he would not last long. Therefore, he asked his subordinates to break through and go to Zhangjia Village, not far away, to find Liu Jun, so that the bandit suppression who was recently in the limelight would be rescued in the future.

"Please ask Captain Liu to help me. I also want to go to the county town to report the letter and ask for help." The postman said. The archer who inspected inspector Zhao was seriously injured when he broke through. He insisted on going to Taiping Station, brought the news and asked them to help bring the reinforcements.

Liu Jun has been recruiting soldiers in Taiping Township these days and has become a big hit. It is known everywhere that the postman finally found Liu Jun successfully.

But when Liu Jun heard the news, he couldn't help but frown, "The Nine-Headed Bandits Suppression indeed became famous in one battle, but now there are only fifteen Nine-Headed Birth Team members here, and the remaining 120 are just recruited recruits. They have not even completed the training of the queue, they cannot understand the orders, they cannot understand the flag, and they have not even issued weapons and armor. Could it be that Liu Jun brought these new recruits to rescue them

"How many thieves are surrounded by inspector Zhao?"

"There are at least three hundred people!" The postman himself did not know the details, so he could only convey the words of the archer who reported the letter.

"How many inspector Zhao has?"

"Inspector Zhao brought twenty archers."

When Liu Jun heard this, he couldn't help but pat his forehead. About twenty people were surrounded by 300 people, and it really couldn't last long. He knew that the so-called inspector archers were actually ordinary people. Like the lay soldiers and postmen, they were both a kind of service in the early days. Later, after the whip method, they had labor and food, but they were still a kind of mandatory service. The archers selected were all innocent young people from self-cultivated farmers with at least dozens of acres of land at home.

But in essence, these people are just like the joint defense team members in later generations, and are all amateurs, militia-level, and even far less than rural brave men like Liu Jun.

Fortunately, the thieves are even less elite and often win by number of people. If Inspection Officer Zhao persists, he might be able to hold on for more.

However, the time to persevere is definitely limited. When the seekers come to the rescue from the county town 70 miles away, the daylily will probably be cold. However, Liu Jun and the others are in Taiping Township now, less than twenty miles away from the encirclement of Inspection Zhao.

They went to rescue, but there were too few people. Just these fifteen horsemen went, would they deliver meat to their door? But if they didn't go, then inspector Zhao and others would definitely be dead. Could it be that they would not save them when they saw death?

Whether to save or not is really a serious question.

Liu Jun was pondering.

Dong Gouzi couldn't help but say, "Captain, Inspection Officer Zhao is a good person, you must save him."

Liu Jun was a little surprised. After hearing Dong Gouzi's explanation, he realized that although Zhao Xunzhang was only a ninth-rank official, his inspection yamen was in Hutou Pass in Taiping Township and he also took charge of Taiping Post. In fact, he was the top leader in the entire Taiping Township. This inspector Zhao was not bad. He suppressed bandits and protected the country and the people were safeguarded. Even if the people had disputes, he could uphold justice. In the eyes of the people in Taiping Township, Zhao Xunzhang was a master of the sky.

Looking at Dong Gouzi's expectant look, Liu Jun knew that other new recruits were also expecting. If he didn't save him at this time, he would be afraid that these soldiers would be difficult to take in the future.

"Prepare, let's go to rescue inspector Zhao." Liu Jun finally made up his mind.

Donggouzi and other soldiers in Taiping Township were excited. Inspection Commissioner Zhao had been in Hutou Pass for many years, and it was rare for those who were willing to speak for the poor people in Taiping Township. When encountering a famine, it was thanks to Inspection Commissioner Zhao who spoke for them on the top and asked for some relief for them. The people in the mountains were simple and grateful. If Liu Jun refused to send troops today, he was afraid that these new recruits would not be able to identify with this new boss from now on.

Saving people is like putting out a fire, and soldiers are very fast, so you can’t make too much preparation at this time.

Although Liu Jun and the fifteen were on vacation, they were all riding horses and carrying their weapons on their bodies and could set off at any time. However, those 120 new recruits, even if they were new recruits, they had to bring them even to make some noise in order to support the scene, but they had no weapons.

"I have a hunting bow."

"I'll take the axe for splitting materials."

"I have a red tassel gun at home."

"I can take the nails."

......

Liu Jun felt a little headache, "It's useless to mess around, so let's do it like this. Cut some bamboos over, cut them into bamboo guns, and make some wooden boards, nail a few simple wooden shields, and then bring all the hatchets and axes in the village."

These people are recruits, and they are not very useful if they hold various farm tools. Since they are recruits, it is best to be simpler and have to play the role of a array. Liu Jun’s last idea was to get a long bamboo gun for each person. There is a bamboo forest next to the village, so it is very easy to get some bamboo guns.

One hundred and twenty people each had a long bamboo spear. If they could be arranged into a bamboo spear array and used to deal with a group of thieves, it would probably be of some use.

It is not enough to have bamboo guns alone. Then use some wooden shields to protect the thief from the front row. Then equip these recruits with hatchets and axes as close combat weapons, and let the hunters bring their own bows, which can also be used as long-range support for firepower.

In just half an hour, the bamboo spear and wooden shield were ready, and the recruits were equipped with hatches, axes, and sickles and other close-fitting short soldiers.

Liu Jun swept in front of the team, and there were spears in the team, which looked a little bit.

"Winter dog, bring that red cloth and make a few flags." Liu Jun shouted.

He brought the red cloth and simply cut out more than a dozen flags. Liu Jun took a pen and wrote the font sizes of Jiutou, Liu, Zhang, Cai, etc. on it, and then found a long bamboo pole, even if the flag was completed.

When the flag was raised, the team looked even more like that. Liu Jun nodded, and now he could only do this.

"Set off!"

Liu Jun rode his horse in front and rode his horse lightly. One hundred and twenty village warriors behind him were holding long bamboo guns, and followed closely with an axe, hatchet and sickle hanging from his butt.

When they marched to the battlefield for the first time, these recruits were not afraid, but were more excited.

"I must kill a bandit for twenty taels of silver, and I must kill four or five of them, and I will earn back one hundred taels of silver." Ergou, who was tall and big, held a red flag and said in his heart.

In Ergou's eyes, killing a thief seems to be no different from killing a hare. If you want to say the difference, it is that the head of the thief is more valuable.
Chapter completed!