The army marched at a speed of fifty miles a day for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, Liu Ling suddenly ordered the team to stop and camp where they were. Then he summoned the generals of each battalion to move on to his 36 horses drawn by the best horses from the Western Regions.
Discussing matters in the big tent.
Asking his soldiers to unfold the map, Liu Ling pointed to a section above and said, "Niusjiao Mountain is ahead."
Only then did everyone understand why the team suddenly stopped. It turned out that they had reached the most important mountain road between Puzhou and Yongzhou. Niujiao Mountain, as its name suggests, looks like a pair of curved horns. The highest point is more than two thousand meters above sea level.
, and the mountain is dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The most worrying part is the first-line gorge. This gorge is long and narrow, with a distance of twenty miles. Although the width is not small, the narrowest place can accommodate five people.
Ten soldiers passed by side by side, but the two sides were as steep as a knife and an axe, with sheer cliffs going straight up and down. During these twenty miles, the enemy would have difficulty passing through as long as they set up barriers.
"The scouts have already gone to check the terrain, but I estimate that the Yongxing Army must have defended the valley. If we want to pass through, the casualties will be too high to attack by force. The Yongxing Army only needs to send three to five thousand troops, which is enough to block my army on the north side of the valley.
It doesn't take too long, just holding on for a month, our army will think that the food and grass are cut off and have to return north. The Yongxing army occupies the Huazhou warehouse and does not have to worry about the problem of food and grass, so they can afford it, but we can't afford it.
"
Zheng Chao, who had been following Liu Ling, explained that he was now Liu Ling's first staff officer. In terms of familiarity with the terrain, there was really no one in the army who could match him.
Wang Banjin looked at the mark of the valley on the map and frowned: "The prince mentioned this place before going south, but because he has never been here, he is not familiar with the terrain and cannot determine the tactics. Now he can only wait for the scouts to come back.
Determine how to attack."
Liu Ling said: "I plan to go and see the terrain in person. Zheng Chao, Hua Ling, Zhao Er, Zhongyi Hou, Du Yi, you guys will follow me to Niujiao Mountain to check it out."
After arranging the men and horses to set up camp, Cheng Yihou was left to settle down in the supply camp. Liu Ling took several of his main generals and only a hundred cavalry to go to Niujiao Mountain, 20 miles outside the camp. It was already June.
, the scenery on both sides of the road is particularly beautiful and magnificent. Far away, the green and majestic mountains are already in front of you.
Both sides of the road are fertile fields that have been abandoned in the past two years. You can't see a soul along the way. Looking at the thousands of miles of fertile fields, they have become ownerless wasteland. The weeds in the fields have grown up to knee-high.
Although it doesn't look too desolate, it has a different kind of desolation. This is not outside the Great Wall. Even though there are overgrown weeds, there is no wind blowing to show the majesty and abundance of cattle and sheep. The land of the Central Plains is actually so desolate.
The great Zhou Dynasty was so rich that it could be called the best in the world a few years ago. Now it seems that these short three years are even less than that of the Northern Han Dynasty. The three years of great disasters in the Great Han Dynasty only took
It was restored to life within a year, but what about Dazhou? Man-made disasters are far more terrible than Dazai. As long as the war situation in Dazhou does not end, this seemingly beautiful but desolate land will never have thousands of miles of grain fields.
Large and small robberies have left this land riddled with holes.
Occasionally, a hare that is so fat that it can hardly walk slowly moves over. It is not too alarmed when it sees the horse team passing by. It just plunges into the grass and does not run far. On the contrary, flocks of wild birds are frightened and fly away, huffing and puffing.
Flying high into the sky. A black shadow the size of a calf suddenly emerged from the grass and ran towards Liu Ling. Although the black shadow was large, it moved as fast as lightning and passed by in a flash.
If they hadn't seen this strange beast wandering around the military camp all day long, those war horses would have adapted to this vicious beast. The seven-month-old black panther Po Di had a fat and oily hare in its mouth.
Quickly chasing the red lion. Accompanying it day and night, the red lion no longer had any defense against this beast that exuded a dangerous smell. However, it looked a little unconvinced when it chased him so quickly. It sprayed two ounces from its nose.
The airflow will accelerate to throw it away.
Liu Ling smiled and patted the red lion on the head to signal his beloved horse not to do this. He controlled his speed and waited for Po Enemy to catch up. After Po Enemy caught up with Liu Ling, he ran while shaking his huge head, and pulled the fat horse away.
The hare flew up and down. Liu Ling laughed when he saw the black panther showing off his victory. Seeing that his master didn't praise his performance very much, the black panther angrily threw the hare aside and actually understood it.
Don't pay any attention to it.
The hare was not completely dead yet. It struggled to move a few times, but finally lost the strength and could no longer move. It was not known that it would fall into the mouth of the wild dog or jackal.
Po Di is now half the size of its mother, but even half the size is like a donkey. If it is fully grown, it may be a bit bigger than the red lion. The horse team is not galloping at full speed.
, so he had a lot of fun defeating the enemy. One moment he got into the grass and drove a group of frightened birds around, and the next moment he chased Liu Ling with some wild animal in his mouth and showed off with his head and tail wagging. After running for a while, there was a commotion in the grass.
, a dozen wild wolves were chased by it and ran out in panic.
It was the first time that Po Di saw a wild wolf that was also a carnivore. Although he was aroused by the smell of the other carnivore, as the top carnivore of the pyramid, he was still indifferent to this guy who was more than one size smaller than him.
He was a little dismissive. He roared twice casually, and the group of wild wolves, who were already frightened and confused, fled immediately under the leadership of the alpha wolf.
Although the war horses had basically adapted to the existence of the black panthers to defeat the enemy, they were still a little scared of the dozen wild wolves that suddenly rushed out. As the war horses neighed, the team suddenly became a little messy. Liu Ling smiled and waved: "These are not
What a good thing, in case a pedestrian passing by alone will most likely end up being eaten by these beasts. Since you see it, just remove it by the way."
As soon as he gave the order, the soldiers howled a few times, bent their bows and arrows and began to kill the wolves. Even Wang Banjin, Zheng Chao and the other generals were thinking of it, and they also took their bows and arrows from their horses.
He picked it off, aimed at the wild wolves and shot at them. It was unlucky for these wild wolves to encounter these more than a hundred battle-experienced warriors. If they encountered ordinary people, I'm afraid they would be the ones running away. But when they encountered
These people and the wild wolves have no place to run.
Dozens of feathered arrows were shot, but none of them missed. This shows that these people's skills are quite reliable. The wolf's eye was actually shot by two feathered arrows at the same time. It was really unfortunate.
Hua Ling put away her bow and cupped her fists and said, "Your Majesty's archery skills are getting better and better, and my subordinate's arrow shooting is half a beat slower than Your Majesty's."
Liu Ling laughed and said, "You asked me to take pictures of these horses. I'm not very good at photographing them."
Hua Ling smiled and said: "Your Majesty is too self-effacing. When it comes to archery skills, my subordinates may still be embarrassed in front of you. When it comes to martial arts, your Majesty has already pushed your subordinates far away. Now, I'm afraid that three Hua Ling can't do it."
He is no match for the prince."
Liu Ling said: "The picture of this horse is better than the one just now."
After this little episode, the heaviness in everyone's hearts was relieved a bit.
After a journey of twenty miles, the horse arrived at the foot of Niujiao Mountain in a short time. The black panther broke the enemy and was a creature in the mountains. At this time, he became even more excited when he saw the mountains. If Liu Ling had not restrained him, he would have plunged into the mountains long ago.
Went happily. We stopped on a hill, everyone dismounted, set up a pergola and looked towards the direction of the Xianxian Gorge. However, they saw the smoke rising from the cooking pots, which made the Niujiao Mountain a bit poetic and picturesque.
"Sure enough, the Zhou army has already occupied the first line of the gorge."
Wang Banjin sighed.
Liu Ling took out his clairvoyance and took a closer look, and his heart was suddenly shocked.
In the distance, a large number of Zhou troops wearing khaki uniforms can be seen busy building fortifications. It seems that the generals of the Zhou army who led the troops are very smart. They actually divided the 20-mile-long valley of Yixian Gorge into every other area.
A barrier as high as a person was built just a few hundred meters away. There was a passage three or four people wide in the middle, and no less than a dozen barriers were built within sight. There was also a small stream flowing in the valley, and you could see the surrounding area.
The army was burying pots and making rice beside the stream.
Liu Ling frowned and handed his clairvoyance to Wang Banjin and said: "Come and see, Zhou Jun's defense is very solid. If we attack one barrier after another, even if we rush down from the twenty-mile valley, it won't be possible."
I know how many people will die."
After Wang Banjin watched it for a while, he gave his clairvoyance to others to watch.
"It's a pity that the creek is too shallow to put the rafts in, otherwise we can use it later."
Zheng Chao also said: "It would be better if there was no creek. There are many vegetation in the valley, and burning it with fire can save a lot of effort. With this creek, it will not be difficult for the Zhou army to put out the fire."
Liu Ling said: "Even without this creek, a fire attack is not a reliable method. Now that it is June, the wind is blowing from the south. If we attack from north to south, we will not have an advantage."
Zheng Chao was stunned and thought that he had forgotten this important factor.
Zhao Er pointed to the cliff and said, "How about I choose some strong soldiers to climb up the cliff and suppress them with bows and arrows from above, and then the army will take the opportunity to attack."
Hua Ling rolled her eyes at him and said, "Why is Erlang talking so hastily today? The cliff is as smooth as a knife cutting an axe. Not to mention that people can't get on it. Even if they get up there and have difficulty moving, they will just be used as a target for shooting."
Zhao Er blushed and said, "I didn't think enough about it."
"Seeing as the terrain at the mouth of the valley is quite open, let's bring up the riprap truck tomorrow to blast it a few times, then seize the outermost barriers before planning to go deeper."
Liu Ling thought for a while, but couldn't think of any good solution: "When we get to the depths of the valley, the farther we go, the narrower it becomes and the more twists and turns we make, so the stone dump truck won't be needed."
Zheng Chao said: "Your Majesty, I have an idea that is not too good." (To be continued)
