June day, the child's face. It was clear sky just now, the sun was shining brightly, and a gust of wind came. In the blink of an eye, dark clouds were pressing down. The raindrops as big as beans hit the ground. First, they splashed yellow dust, and after a moment, it turned into mud. A group of soldiers walked on the top of a stretch of hill with some difficulty.

This is a section of the long border between Taoyuan County and Changning County, Qi State. The troops stationed in Taoyuan County in the Wuling War Zone of the Ming Dynasty were patrolling.

Many years ago, when the relationship between the two countries was still normal, it was fertile land, with green mountains and green waters surrounding villages, with chickens and dogs barking, smoke storming, and dense crowds being the norm here. But now, standing on the top of the hills and looking into the distance, all you can see is speechless desolation.

The fields have long been abandoned, and even the ditches that were used for irrigation have been gradually buried. Only some shallow traces appear and appear in the weeds and some intermittent soil ridges.

The original village has long been dilapidated, and under the years of wind and rain, it has become a broken wall. Occasionally, some wild dogs and cats can be seen appearing in it.

There is no tree to see. The big trees that used to be cut down were all completely cut, and even if they were not too late, they would burn it down with a fire, which made this large area look even more desolate.

Taoyuan County has finally recovered some vitality after several years of operation, but most of its population still revolves around the county town. Border areas like this have long been given up. First, because of the insufficient population, they cannot take care of the place. Second, all the Ming people or all the Qi people know clearly that a war between Ming and Qi will inevitably break out in the future for hegemony of this continent, and this place will definitely be one of the battlefields. This perception has been proven as the Qin State collapsed under the rolling military front of the Ming Dynasty.

No one will build his own home in this place that will inevitably be destroyed again. Even the governor of Taoyuan County Ben Kuan only focused all his energy around the county town and towards Zhaoguan.

"Snap your pace. There is a shed to shelter in front of you. Go there to shelter from the rain." The bearded whistle leader who led the team greeted his soldiers, walked hard from the mud and water, and ran forward.

The rain was too heavy, and even though they all prepared their hats, they were still soaked all over their bodies.

This shed was built during patrols. The materials used to build the shed came from the abandoned villages not far away. Finally, they ran into the shed, and everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The shed contained some necessary daily necessities, because a patrol team would pass by here every day, and these things were placed here in case of emergency needs.

A fire soon lit up in the shed, and the soldiers put their wet clothes on the fire to bake. Although the weather was warm, they were still prone to getting sick while wearing wet clothes.

The bearded whistleman sat naked under the protruding eaves of the shed outside, looking at the distance in the heavy rain. With the hills as the boundary, the mountain is Taoyuan County of the Ming Dynasty, and the mountain is Changning County of Qi. Walking down this section of hills, you can enter the land of Qi.

Unlike the Ming army, the Qi people would conduct regular patrols on this period even if they had nothing to do. Occasionally, they were just scouts riding horses. Both sides often looked at each other on the hills and the other under the hills.

Of course, the two sides just look at each other and will not start a conflict rashly.

"Changzhu turns out to be a good place!" The bearded whistle captain suddenly sighed with emotion, and said to a soldier sitting beside him holding a steaming boiling water.

"I can't see it." The soldier turned around and glanced at the place called Changzhu by the bearded whistle leader. This place is now behind them. But now all he could see is a vast rain. Even if there was no rain, there was only a dilapidated and desolate place.

"I'm from here." The bearded whistle chief said sadly.

"Ah, Chief Fan, I haven't heard you talk about it before!" The soldier was a little surprised.

Fan Chang grabbed his thick beard and smiled bitterly: "Xiaoliang, do you know how old I am this year?"

"It seems, twenty-five or thirty?" The soldier was a little embarrassed.

Fan Chang laughed: "Bad, I just turned twenty this year."

The soldier widened his eyes and looked at Fan Chang's densely haired face, disbelief.

"I won't lie to you. When the Qi army retreated from Taoyuan County, they kidnapped people who had no time to run away. Our Changzhu is close to the border of Qi, which is the worst-hit area. When they came, I was only sixteen years old. My parents stuffed me into the cellar at home and escaped this disaster. But when I climbed out, everything changed, the village was gone, and everyone was gone." Fan Chang said.

"All of them were caught there?" the soldier asked in a low voice.

Fan Chang lowered his head, and a trace of pain flashed in his eyes, "The village was burned, and there were dead people everywhere in the village, mostly old, weak, women and children, and all the young and strong were gone. I found my father's body in the village. My father was still holding a sickle in his hand. My mother died beside my father. The two brothers and sister-in-law didn't see it. I thought it was because they had taken it away."

"This is really..." The soldier's eyes showed a look of unbearable expression.

"Later, when the Ming army came, I went to join the army, but the Ming army was at least eighteen years old to recruit soldiers. After I touched the wall twice, I lied about my age. I was mature and had a big beard, but I could deceive many people. Xiaoliang, where are you from?"

"I'm from Shayang. I've just been transferred here this year." The soldier said. "Master Fan, don't be too sad. We will take revenge sooner or later. One day, we will fight there. If they snatch ours, we will snatch it back ten times."

"Of course I have to take revenge." Fan Chang clenched his fists tightly and waved them in the air. "I will come back when we defeat the Qi people and build our village as well as before."

"Definitely, Chief Fan." The soldier nodded vigorously: "You were transferred from Xiangxi. I heard that there was also similar to here. Haven't you built beautiful villages now? In fact, it is easier to make contributions in Xiangxi. The conflict with Qi people there is very fierce."

"Xiangxi is different from ours. Although there is constant conflict, it is not suitable for large-scale combat. It is only suitable for surprise attacks. Every time the people of the same army come to make trouble, it is only a small-scale army and cannot become a large climate. Moreover, there is abundant water resources, so there is a garrison place. However, when there is really a big battle, Changzhu will definitely be more suitable for large troops to launch. Besides, this is my hometown, so I took the initiative to ask for transfer here." Fan Chang said.

"That's right." The soldier stood up and said, "Your clothes must have dried. I'll bring them to you."

Taking the dry clothes from the soldier, Fan Chang put them on his body, halfway through, his eyes suddenly stopped, and he stared at the direction of Qi Guo opposite him.

"What's wrong, Chief Fan?"

"It seems that someone has come over, and there are many people." Fan Chang quickly put on his clothes, picked up the armor on the ground and put it on his body, and shouted: "Everyone is wearing armor, there is a situation, prepare for the fight!"

The shed immediately became busy, and the sound of collision of weapons and armor was endless.

"Start up!" Fan Chang yelled.

After half a stick of incense, dozens of soldiers were arranged in an orderly queue behind Fan Chang.

Fan Chang stared at the vast rain curtain.

When he was in Xiangxi, he encountered such situations many times. The Qi army often crossed the border and raided patrols and villages. In turn, the Ming army also had such a team to rush to Qi to do the same thing.

Such a battle is not large in scale, but it is also cruel. Since we arrived in Changzhu, we have never encountered such a thing. After all, it is different from the area where the Ming Dynasty deliberately developed in Xiangxi. Changzhu is considered a barren land.

The rain suddenly became much smaller, and the eyes became clear all of a sudden. Fan Chang finally saw the situation ahead. It was a group of people who were running away were being chased by a team of Qi soldiers.

Fan Chang suddenly realized that such things are not uncommon now. Most of them were Taoyuan County and even Wuling, which were captured to Qi State, and the people of Yiyang tried every means to escape back to their hometown.

Some were in groups and some escaped back alone. When he was in Xiangxi, he encountered this situation many times, and thus had a confrontation with the pursuing Qi army.

Xiaoliang beside him also understood and watched the fleeing people stagger, while the pursuers behind him were getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but rush: "Hurry up, hurry up!"

Fan Chang immediately judged the form. Judging from the speed of the escaped people in the past, they would definitely not be able to escape the pursuers behind him. Looking at the men and women in the team, as well as the children who were carrying and hugging him, his heart suddenly felt a sting.

"Check your weapons and prepare to go down the mountain to respond." He yelled.

"Captain Fan, there is a lot of land over there!" Xiaoliang said.

"So what about Qidi?" Fan Chang smiled grimly: "When I was in Changxi, I had been there several times. I thought there would be nothing wrong here. Since they bumped into the door, how could they let it go?"

"They have a lot of people!"

"Xiaoliang, you haven't fought before?" Fan Chang laughed and said, "New recruits, today I met with blood. There are many people? The Ming soldiers were never afraid of too many people."

As soon as Fan Chang finished speaking, the Ming soldiers behind him burst into laughter. It was obvious that among the soldiers, Xiao Liang was the first recruit, and the others had already started to prepare weapons at this time. As patrol soldiers, their equipment was quite good, including spears, ring-headed swords, and even crossbow arrows.

"Follow me!" Fan Chang roared and rushed down from Qiuling first. Dozens of Ming soldiers shouted in unison and followed Fan Chang down.
Chapter completed!