The cold wind is blowing, the snow is falling, and the sky and the earth are completely white.
A team was walking slowly against the wind and snow, their heads and bodies were covered with snowflakes, and their breaths seemed to freeze. Among the team, Qin Huaidao was a little worried when he saw this scene. It suddenly snowed heavily yesterday, and so far there is half a meter of snow on the ground.
Finally, the war horses have long legs, making it difficult to walk, let alone walk.
"Herod!"
Suddenly, Fang Yiai, who was walking in front, screamed from his horse and stumbled to the ground. Fang Yiai was thrown out and cursed angrily. Seeing the pain on the horse's face, he couldn't curse anymore and said: "That's not good.
, the war horse stepped into a pit, and its legs were broken and it could no longer walk."
Qin Huaidao urged his horse forward, watching the horse struggling to get up, but unable to do so. He couldn't help but look around. There was nothing but white snow and woods. It seemed that the whole world was only white. Looking at the gray sky again,
I'm afraid it will snow for another day.
This sudden heavy snow has become a thorny problem.
Suddenly, the war horse riding by Cheng Chumo and Yuchi Baolin fell to its knees, foaming at the mouth, and lost strength. Qin Huaidao realized the seriousness of the problem. The horse had not eaten for several days and could not bear it any longer. He shouted: "Dismount."
, let them go."
Everyone dismounted one after another and looked at the snow without their feet. They all frowned. Li Derjian asked: "The snow is getting heavier and heavier. The snow is too deep and we can't walk at all. We have to find a place to hide for a while."
Only then can we go back, so please stay with the war horse so that you can still satisfy your hunger."
"That's right, the snow has been melting for more than a month, so there is not enough food." Cheng Chumo reminded.
"Damn it, we can reach Yingzhou in two days at most, but we are trapped here." Fang Yiai cursed, looked at Qin Huai and said, "Brother Qin, what should we do next?"
Qin Huaidao looked at the snowy field ahead and said: "We can't stay here and wait for the snow to melt. We must rush back. The horses with broken legs will not survive, so they will be slaughtered and the four legs will be taken as food. The others will be driven away and they will carry us for several days."
, it can be considered a meritorious service, so don’t kill him.”
"What should we do?" Cheng Chumo asked everyone's thoughts.
"I have a way to kill the horse." Qin Huaidao said with a calm and calm tone.
This calmness infected everyone. Without asking any more questions, they all drove the horses away, beheaded the injured horse, and took out four legs. Qin Huaidao's heart skipped a beat when he smelled the blood, and he said: "Freeze the legs with ice and snow."
, don’t let any blood flow out, leave quickly, the wolves will come when they smell the blood.”
Everyone quickly applied ice and snow to the incision and followed Qin Huaidao forward in a hurry.
We were walking through the woods instead of the official road. Everyone was a little surprised, but they didn't ask any more questions. Everyone was convinced by Qin Huaidao's various performances along the way.
After entering the woods, Qin Huaidao led everyone to the hillside, found a low spot and said: "Li Derjian, Li Yixie, you two are responsible for burning a fire here and eating barbecue. The others will follow me."
As he said that, Qin Huaidao came to a birch tree. This kind of tree is relatively hard. He pulled out his long knife and said, "Look for this kind of tree and chop down two more about the same size." After saying this, he chopped down the tree with his knife.
Down.
"I'll do this rough work." Cheng Chumo came up.
Qin Huaidao didn't care and handed the knife to Cheng Chumo. He took a few steps back and drew a map on the ground based on his memory. He was thinking about the shortcut. Riding a horse and walking were two different things. The route could be completely different. Before long,
A new route was determined.
After kicking off the map he had drawn, he saw that Cheng Chumo had already brought down a tree. He pulled out another knife and stepped forward. While cleaning the branches, he said, "First peel it, and then cut it off to a length of about one meter."
"Understood." Cheng Chu agreed silently.
After a while, the bark was cleaned and cut into one-meter-long sections. Qin Huaidao took one section and chopped it open in twos and threes to make a long wooden board. The front end was cut into an arc, upwards, and a few cuts were made in the middle.
Then cut down some mulberry trees, bake the mulberry bark a little, dry out the water, twist it into a rope and tie it to the promising trough to fix it, forming a style similar to straw sandals.
After doing it, I put one on each foot and walked on the snow. My body did not sink into the snow. Although I was a little tired, it was much better than nothing. When I got to the downhill position, I used the stainless steel horse as a support to push harder.
Rushing down, it was like skiing, twisting the body to change direction, avoiding the big tree in front, and going down easily, everyone was stunned to see it.
"Can it still be like this?" Fang Yiai's eyes lit up and she said excitedly: "Quick, let's make one too. This thing is better than riding a horse when driving in the snow."
"Yes, this thing works well." Everyone agreed. They had witnessed it with their own eyes, and they didn't have much technical content, so they imitated it one after another.
Not long after, Qin Huaidao came up, and Li Derjian whispered: "Brother Qin, may this thing be used on the battlefield?"
Qin Huaidao looked at the other party and said with a smile: "You have discernment."
"How to use it specifically?" Li Derjian became more and more excited when he heard that it was really good.
"It needs to be improved. We'll talk about it later." Qin Huaidao didn't explain much. Seeing that everyone was busy making simple sled boards, he smiled and said: "Each person has one set. Use mine to copy it. It's best to have the same size and thickness. Practice more and don't worry.
I can't walk back and forth, but once I get used to it I can reach Yingzhou at noon tomorrow."
"Follow the order!" everyone roared with laughter.
Qin Huaidao came to the campfire and said, "You two can go too, and I'll barbecue."
"Then it's hard work." Li Derjian and Li Yixie left excitedly.
They are all young people who are very curious about new things. After they got good at it and practiced one by one, they realized that it is not easy to walk well. They fell down from time to time and made fun of each other, which actually aroused everyone's vanity.
, Who's losing face? He practiced even harder.
After half an hour, the meat is cooked and has no flavor, but it can satisfy your hunger, so you don't need to pay attention to it in extraordinary times.
After eating and drinking enough, the campfire was filled with snow and traces were swept away. The group traveled all night. It was better to walk on flat ground and it was easy to glide. It was more difficult to go uphill, but it was much easier to go downhill. After getting familiar with it, everyone walked faster.
quick.
The wind and snow are getting heavier and heavier, but it can no longer extinguish everyone's passion and desire to return.
After driving all night, Yingzhou was looming in sight after dawn, and everyone was very excited.
When they arrived at a hillside not far from Yingzhou, everyone was a little confused when they saw the disappearing defenders. Where was the enemy?
In an instant, everyone looked at Qin Huaidao, completely unaware of their dependence on Qin Huaidao.
However, Qin Huaidao looked to the north. He found no signs of the enemy's withdrawal along the way. They were either going south or north. The food was burned. The Goguryeo army was short of food.
Storing food is just adding insult to injury. The best way is to go north to raise food.
"Let's go. If you have anything to do, we'll talk about it when we get back!" Qin Huaidao shouted.
The group continued on their way and soon arrived outside Yingzhou City.
"call out--"
An arrow was nailed in front of everyone, and the tail of the arrow buzzed and trembled.
Everyone stopped, Qin Huaidao knelt down and untied the hemp rope, and shouted: "Let Xue Feng come and see me!"
The soldiers guarding the city heard the familiar Tang language and called them by name, so they did not attack again.
After waiting for a while, a person from Chengtoushan shouted: "Who is coming?"
"It's me!" Qin Huaidao shouted.
"It's General Qin!" Xue Feng's surprised voice came: "It's General Qin who's back. Go and report quickly. No shooting is allowed. Please put away your bows."
Qin Huaidao breathed a sigh of relief and led everyone to the city wall. He swung his claws and hooked them firmly. Several people climbed up the city wall. The defenders were dumbfounded. It could still be like this. If the enemy attacked the city like this, Yingzhou might have missed.
Right? Fortunately, we are one of our own.
"When did the enemies outside the city leave?" Qin Huaidao asked while retracting his flying claws.
"Two days ago, the heavy snow had not yet fallen and it went north. The situation is unknown." Xue Feng said quickly.
"Really going north?" Qin Huaidao's eyes lit up. Seeing Xue Feng nodding decisively, he quickly added: "Let's go back to the Governor's Mansion. That's great. The situation is strong for me."
Xue Feng was curious, but also knew that now was not the time to ask questions, so he hurried down the city wall and arrived at the Governor's Mansion. Qin Huaidao motioned for everyone to follow and went directly to the Governor's Office.
Xue Wanshu was convening people to discuss matters. When she saw Qin Huaidao coming back, she was overjoyed. She came up to him excitedly, cupped her fists and said, "General Qin is back, are everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, is it convenient?" Qin Huaidao asked.
"If there is any inconvenience, we are all our own people. We are discussing the military situation. The enemy outside the city suddenly went north. They must be going to Goguryeo. However, the enemy situation is unknown. We are worried that they will lure us out of the city and we dare not pursue us. We are discussing sending people to investigate.
Tan, it's just the right time for you to come back." Xue Wanshu quickly explained.
When Qin Huaidao saw the map on the table, he quickly signaled for help and put it up on a shelf so that everyone could see it. He pointed at one of the locations and said: "Commander, generals, this is the Xiwandan tribe, which was attacked by our army.
Once, it was reported that the troops of the Wandan tribe were out in all likelihood and would return. Is there any outside intelligence? This needs to be confirmed."
Saying that, Qin Huaidao looked at Xue Wanshu, who shook his head with a wry smile and said: "Before, the troops surrounded Yingzhou. The enemy focused on defending the south and did not dare to release the carrier pigeons because the enemy had flying eagles. The flying eagles would hunt and kill the carrier pigeons. The enemy troops left the city.
Then it snowed continuously, and Fei Ge couldn’t go out, so there is no news for the time being.”
Without news, it is impossible to determine whether the Xiwandan tribe has withdrawn its troops. It can only be speculated.
Qin Huaidao thought for a while and said: "This unexpected snowstorm has blocked the road and the army cannot march normally. Regardless of whether the Xiwandan army returns or not, once the Goguryeo army penetrates deep into the Khitan territory, it will be trapped in a certain camp. The most likely possibility is
Like this." He pointed to a tribe.
Xue Wanshu asked thoughtfully: "Why?"
"Because the neighboring tribes have been attacked by us. Just this tribe recently. Judging from the time, the Goguryeo army arrived in this tribe and it snowed. They could only stay in this tribe and could not go anywhere. The 50,000-strong army needed a lot of food and drink.
, they could only kill everyone in the tribe to free up food and grass for their own use, but they were trapped." Qin Huaidao said solemnly.
"That makes sense!"
They can't even walk, let alone people, they will definitely be trapped, but this tribe has enough cattle and sheep to live for 50,000 people for more than a month. Save two months, the ice and snow will melt in two months, and they can still survive. General Qin can
There is a way?"
"Yes, but the secret must not be leaked. I need all the carpenters in the city and larger lumber. If we can provide it, these 50,000 people will be eaten by this general." Qin Huaidao said with murderous intent.
"Seriously?" Xue Wanshu asked in surprise.
"There is no child's play in the army!"
"Okay, even if you demolish the Governor's Mansion, I will satisfy you." Xue Wanshu was immediately overjoyed. If 50,000 people can be eaten, it will definitely be a great achievement. There is no first achievement. It would be good to drink the soup as well.
"Thank you very much, Commander-in-Chief. Please get it done as soon as possible without further delay. Of course, if you take things from the people, you must compensate them. There should be some cattle and sheep. Just pay double the market price." Qin Huaidao said solemnly.
Seeing that Qin Huaidao was so capable, Xue Wanshu smiled with satisfaction. With double compensation, the people would definitely be willing to give up their own wood and work to help. She immediately patted her chest and promised: "I want to thank General Qin on behalf of all the people in the city."
Generosity, everyone and materials are ready within one day, Feng'er, I'll leave it to you."
"Follow the order!" Xue Feng quickly agreed.
"Captain, I'm tired from the journey and need to clean up. We'll talk later."
"Okay, let's go back and have a rest first. I'll pick up the wind for you later." Xue Wanshu agreed and didn't ask Qin Huaidao and others what they were doing.
Qin Huaidao didn't mention it, there were many people in the room, and he was worried that the gossip would leak out, so he hurriedly left with the people.
Half an hour later.
Qin Huaidao took a nice bath in hot water and ate something. Then he felt much better and asked Luo Zhang to call Duke An Guo for help.
An Guogong didn't know what Qin Huaidao and others were doing. When he heard that Qin Huaidao and others were back, he was overjoyed and hurried over. When he entered the door, he said: "General, you are back. If you don't come back, I don't know what to do."
"Dong An Guo has been worrying about this period of time. How are you preparing for the things you have given me?"
"Everyone has prepared a coat, a pair of socks, and a pair of gloves. Not to mention, it's really warm. I didn't expect that wool can be used to make coats. If I had known this, my tribe wouldn't have
So many people froze to death, but the general is a great talent, but I am not as good as me." An Guogong said sincerely.
"Do you want to do something big?" Qin Huaidao smiled and changed the subject.
An Guogong was startled and reminded him kindly: "The snowstorm is coming, which is a sign of white disaster. It is difficult for the war horses to move. What can be done?"
"Don't worry about marching. I, the general, have a way. I just ask you if you dare?" Qin Huaidao said with a smile.
"If we can solve the marching problem, why don't I dare?" An Guogong suddenly became unhappy.
"Okay, Mr. An Guo is strong and strong, and I admire him." Qin Huaidao smiled and looked outside the door. With Luo Zhang guarding him, it was not a big problem. No one could eavesdrop, so he whispered: "Brothers went there a few days ago.
Traveling to Liaodong, they burned hundreds of thousands of stones of grain."
"What...what?" An Guogong was shocked. He looked at Qin Huaidao with eyes full of disbelief. Seeing that Qin Huaidao's face was calm and calm, he didn't look like he was joking. Thinking of the enemy troops outside the city suddenly heading north, he suddenly reacted and his voice was a little...
Urgently: "No wonder the Goguryeo army went north. They were short of food, so they went to collect food nearby?"
"Yes, no one expected that there would be a blizzard in the past two days. They must be trapped in a certain tribe and cannot get out. Let's go there. We don't need to kill the enemy. We only need to burn down the yurt to freeze them to death." Qin Huaidao said in a low voice,
We have coats and sleds on our side, so we can march and keep out the cold, but the enemy does not.
This is the crushing of advanced ideas!
The backward Goguryeo and Khitan had no way of avoiding being beaten!
An Guogong grew up on the grasslands and was very aware of the pain of not having a yurt. He asked: "General, this matter is not trivial. Can it really solve the marching problem?"
"Of course, otherwise how would we get back? We would be stuck on the road."
An Guogong reacted, his eyes lit up, and he said excitedly: "That's right, the snow outside the city has been almost three feet, and the horses can't walk. There must be a way for you to come back. In this way, I don't have to worry anymore. If you can
To solve the problem of marching, let alone Goguryeo’s 50,000-strong army, the Khitan can also capture it. We have coats to keep out the cold, white wine to warm our bodies, dried meat to fill our stomachs, and crossbows to kill the enemy, so what else do we have to fear?”
"Okay, please encourage Mr. An Guo to boost your morale after you return. Once the marching equipment is ready, you will be able to travel in about a week of training. Let me tell you that those who are not qualified in training will not be allowed to participate in this battle. If you miss the opportunity, don't blame me for not giving the opportunity."
Qin Huaidao explained.
"General, please rest assured. If anyone fails to meet the training requirements, I will whip him with a whip." An Guogong agreed.
After solving the problem of An Guogong's Turkic army, what was left was the Forbidden Army. After sending An Guogong away, Qin Huaidao went to his brothers to retrieve it. Everyone had seen the power of the sled, so naturally they would not object and went back to boost morale.
With the internal problem resolved, Qin Huaidao felt at ease and had a good rest.
Blizzard will not recover for two months. We have plenty of time, so there is no need to rush.
The next morning, Qin Huaidao woke up, resurrected with full health, ate some food and found Xue Wanshu.
Simply use the warehouse as a workshop and lead everyone to make sleds.
The tools are complete, and the things made are much easier to use than those roughly chopped with a knife. Brushing tung oil will make them smoother. Smoothness means reduced friction and faster speed.
Then use wood to make boots and fix them on the sled. You can move while wearing them, which is much more convenient than using ropes.
Five days later, the 6,000 sets of sleds were ready, and the extra ones were considered spares. The wood was basically exhausted, and there was no more material to make more. Qin Huaidao and Xue Wanshu discussed using fire to melt the ice in the Ximen Cave, and arranged
Heavily guarded as a precaution, we led everyone out for training.
The sled seems simple, but it is not easy to master it. It took three days to get it right. Three days later, I started to practice the formation. There are two types. One is attack. How to keep the formation without chaos when rushing up, and how to shoot to ensure everyone
Everyone has a field of vision, avoids crowding, and how to ensure continuous firepower output. Qin Huaidao found a two-stage method for this.
To put it simply, the people are divided into two parts, one part shoots and the other part waits. When the person in front finishes shooting and changes the arrow box, the other part takes over and continues shooting without stopping the arrows to suppress the enemy.
Another formation is to retreat. Sleds are not horses, and it is impossible to retreat in a swarm. Especially when going uphill, there must be a plan. Qin Huaidao chose alternate cover, that is, some people stayed to block and the other people retreated a certain distance.
, covering the retreat of those in front, and so on alternately and repeatedly.
There is a problem here. The retreating people cannot block the view of the responding person, otherwise the repeating crossbow will hit their own people. They can only be divided into two, retreat from both sides, get out of the way of the front, go around to the back to reorganize, and respond to the people in front.
People must be fast. Once the person who responds is unable to assemble and replenish his position after his quiver is empty, the enemy will take the opportunity to rush forward.
Whether it's attacking or retreating, it's not complicated and easy to master, but it's a bit troublesome to coordinate, the tacit understanding is not enough, and it takes time to train.
After ten days, the troops finally looked like something.
Qin Huaidao breathed a sigh of relief and let the troops rest for two days to recover their strength.
On the third day, more than 5,000 troops came out of Yingzhou City again, looking north in a mighty manner.
Unknown to the Yingzhou garrison, they saw that everyone was not riding a horse and was wearing snow-white coats. They all looked bloated like white snow bears, but no one laughed at them. They saluted solemnly and watched them off in a military manner.
Xue Wanshu brought the Yingzhou generals to see him off, and said with some worry: "General Qin's trip is extremely dangerous. If nothing can be done, I hope you can make other plans. Yingzhou is waiting for General Qin's return at any time. In addition, if necessary, I will
Bring support at any time."
"Thank you very much, Governor. You have helped me a lot. There are still some cattle, sheep and war horses in the camp. I would like to express my gratitude to the Governor's Mansion. I also ask the Governor not to see anyone outside."
"It's too much, I'm not worthy of it. I will take care of it for the general and take it back to Chang'an when you come back." Xue Wanshu said quickly. There are still more than 100,000 cattle and sheep and 30,000 horses left. This is a great gift.
"It is not easy to help the people when necessary. This blizzard came too suddenly. The people have no income for two or three months. They may not be able to survive, but they cannot become victims of the disaster." Qin Huaidao warned.
Xue Wanshu was also worried about this. After thinking about it, she stopped insisting and said gratefully: "General, I would like to thank you for your great righteousness. I would like to express my gratitude to the people in the city and wish the general a great victory on his return."
"Thank you, Commander!" Qin Huaidao clasped his fists, looked at everyone, turned and left.
Xue Feng glanced at Xue Wanshu and quickly followed.
"Protect the general!" Xue Wanshu reminded.
"Don't worry." Xue Feng agreed without looking back and hurried after him.
Everyone watched as the 5,000-strong army walked further and further away, disappearing into the wind and snow. Everyone was filled with emotion. Not only had a devastating military disaster been resolved, but there was still room left to send troops to chase down the enemy. This battle was fought simply unbelievably.
"This person's future is limitless!"
Xue Wanshu murmured in a low voice, her heart becoming more determined to make friends.
"Captain, can they really do it?" a general asked in a low voice.
Xue Wanshu glanced at the other party and said: "If I were to lead the army, it would definitely not work, but General Qin is a very good person. Everything he did after coming to Yingzhou was incredible, but it was also magical. Have you heard of the method of building a city?"
"Never!"
"I have been guarding Yingzhou for many years, but I have never thought of this method. General Qin lives in Chang'an, but he knows this method, and he also knows how to use cold water to repel the enemy. We didn't expect such a simple method, and that thing walking on the snow, just now
You have also seen that it is not difficult to walk, it is simply incredible." Xue Wanshu said with emotion.
"That's right, General, I'm afraid things are going to change in the north today."
"Yeah, it's going to change!"
Xue Wanshu looked at the vast snowfield in the distance, and the light was surging.