The mouth of the Xiaoling River is crisscrossed by waterways and deserves the title of Baigu River.

The large and small sandbanks are covered with dry reeds, and they are connected one by one, and they also divide countless river channels. Boating in them is like traveling in a maze.

If Yan San hadn't already been here once and figured out the route, and let Yang Zhen lead the team alone, or even let Zhang Chen, who was born in Ye Busu, lead the team, he would have got lost.

While Yang Zhen kept sighing in his heart, the centipede boat helmed by Yan San turned left and right, and about half an hour later, it entered a much narrower river.

After traveling up the river for about a quarter of an hour, the power of the sea tide was already very weak, and the centipede boat had to rely on the rowers to row hard to move forward.

After a while, under Yan San's helm, the centipede boat docked steadily next to a tall, dense dry reed bush on the north bank of the river.

When Yang Zhenzheng was confused, he heard Yan San whisper: "Sir! We stopped here last time, and about two miles to the west is the Tatar company camp! In front of the Xiaoling River, the channel is narrow, the water surface is shallow, and the paddle sound is easy to make.

Discovered by the Tatar patrol! We can no longer go deeper by boat!"

After hearing this, Yang Zhen also lowered his voice and said: "Yan San, since you have been here, everything will be at your disposal!"

After saying this, Yang Zhen looked at the boat under the moonlight. The other eleven people were staring at him, feeling that everyone was extremely nervous.

Yang Zhen raised his eyes and looked around. He only heard the sound of reeds blowing in the wind and the sound of rising tide in the sea a few miles away. Other than that, there was no sound. It was so quiet that he could hear his own heartbeat.

Yang Zhen first breathed a long sigh of relief, then took a deep breath of cool and fresh air, exhaled it again, waited for his mood to calm down, and finally said softly:

"Let's disembark now and drag the boat into the reeds. Six oarsmen will stay and wait for our return! The others followed me to the west to explore, with Yan San taking the lead and Zhang Chen following! Remember, under any circumstances,

Don't even make a sound!"

The purpose of this group of people coming here was to scout, so they did not bring any muskets. They only borrowed crossbows and waist knives from the artillery team at Yang Zhen's request.

At that moment, everyone listened to Yang Zhen's order without saying anything. After quickly checking their crossbows and swords, they all jumped off the boat from the shore.

Due to the rising tide, there was a shallow layer of water in the originally dry reed marsh. When my old cotton boots jumped into the water, it was instantly freezing cold.

But no one said anything, and no one stayed. After jumping off the boat, they quickly followed what Yang Zhen said and worked together to turn the centipede boat, which was "not big, but not small," from

Drag it into the reed marsh in this narrow river channel.

Leaving the six oarsmen to guard the ship, Yang Zhen made a sign to the west to set off. Yan San and Zhang Chen immediately took down their bows and arrows and set off first.

There was no visible road in the dense reed marsh. Yan San carefully searched for the traces they had walked in the morning. He bent down, gently pushed aside the reeds in front of him, and moved forward quickly.

Yang Zhen followed Zhang Chen closely, holding an old Yan Ling knife in his hand, hunched over, and followed quickly.

Yang Zhan'ao led Yang Zhen's two other soldiers, each holding a hard crossbow with short arrows, to protect Yang Zhen's left, right and behind.

The group of people marched hard westward in the reed marsh for about a quarter of an hour. The reed marsh began to become sparse and short, and the sandy soil under their feet began to become dry.

Yang Zhen knew that he was about to leave the reed area.

Sure enough, after walking westward for a while, Yan San and Zhang Chen, who were walking at the front, suddenly squatted down, almost causing Yang Zhen to bump into them.

At this time, Yan San turned around and whispered: "Sir! After crossing the tidal flat in front and the woods above the tidal flat, you can see the Tatar company camp!"

At this time, Yang Zhen and the others were already on the edge of a large reed swamp, and to the west was an open tidal flat. Above the tidal flat was a dark black forest.

This large dark forest completely blocked Yang Zhen's view, making it impossible to see what was behind the woods.

When Yan San saw that Yang Zhen was silent, he continued: "This morning, we went deep west along the reed field beside the river. We reached the place where the tidal flat is connected to the Xiaoling River. We heard the water collector from Daying in the north.

dialogue!"

Hearing Yan San talk about the conversation between the two Tatars, Yang Zhen's heart suddenly moved, and he asked again: "Yan San! Think about it again, what did the two Tatars say?"

Yan San thought about it again and again, and finally said: "What the Er Tatars said was that one of the Er Tatars' sister was very beautiful and was attracted by their master. The other Er Tatars all said that the Er Tatars

The Tatars will be prosperous after returning this time! By the way, they seem to be talking about whose master has a good temper and whose master has a bad temper. He will be beaten or scolded! This is what I heard at that time!

"

At this time, Yang Zhen seemed to have grasped something in his heart. He was puzzled when he first heard Yan San describe the information he had discovered. He seemed to have found the answer, but for a while he seemed unsure.

.

At this time, most Han people, the imperial court, and the Liaodong army were completely confused about the Manchu Eight Banners system, the armored men system, and the coated slave system. They could not distinguish between the Eight Banners, the armored men, the Han army bannermen, and the

The difference between coated slaves is that as long as they keep the money rat tail, they are Manchu and Qing bannermen.

Actually, this is not the case at all.

The conversation that Yan San and the others heard at that time, although very simple, was just a few Er Tatars teasing another Er Tatar for having a beautiful sister.

But at this time, Yang Zhen preliminarily judged from it that the Tatar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River near the Empress Palace was not the camp of the God-Blessed Soldiers of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming.

Because of Kong Youde, after Geng Zhongming surrendered to the Tatars, he received great attention from the Tatar leader Huang Taiji, who allowed them to form a separate army and personally named them Tianyoubing.

Later, Kong Youde was named "King Gongshun" and Geng Zhongming was named "King Huaishun", so that their military personnel were nominally on par with the Eight Banners of Manchuria. They all belonged to the Han military banners and did not allow other Eight Banners dignitaries to invade them at will.

population and property.

This also means that there are no Jurchen Tatars in the camp of the obedient King Kong Youde and the "Huaishun King" Geng Zhongming. Even if there were low-level officials like General Jiang, he would not dare to easily seize the Han army flag under his command.

person's family.

In this era, although all the Eight Banners dignitaries were the masters of Kong Youde or Geng Zhongming, the so-called "God Blessed Soldiers" under their command were not the Manchurian Eight Banners.

From this we can judge that this Tatar camp on the north bank of the Xiaoling River is neither the camp of the "God Blessed Soldiers" under Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, nor can it be the camp of the "God Blessed Soldiers" under Shang Kexi.

On the contrary, in all likelihood, they are the elite armored men of the Eight Banners led by a certain Eight Banners dignitary. Only these people will take a large number of armored men with them when they go out to fight.

Aha means slave, Baoyi means "from the family", and Baoyi Aha means a slave in the family.

Armored men under the Eight Banners are often sent out to fight, and most of the household affairs are done by Baoyi Aha, so many armored men under the Eight Banners have a large number of Baoyi Aha.

Even when they went out to fight, these people would take care of them, such as taking care of their horses, assisting in looting, taking care of looted property, and taking care of captured prisoners.

The chores and miscellaneous work in these Tatar rear camps were all taken care of by Bao Yi Aha who accompanied the army. Their role was somewhat similar to that of the Fuzi who were forcibly recruited during the Ming Dynasty's military campaigns.

On the edge of this reed marsh, at midnight, Yang Zhen looked at the dark woods not far ahead, imagining the Tatar camp behind the woods, and suddenly thought of these, and of Xiao Ling in the Empress Palace area.

The Tatar camp on the north bank of the river is unlikely to be the "God Blessed Soldiers" and "God Helped Soldiers" of the two Tatars. On the contrary, it is very likely to be the rear camp of the Tatar army outside Songshan.
Chapter completed!