In the afternoon of the next day, Zhang Yanling and his party arrived at a place called Mingshazhou. This place already belongs to the territory under the jurisdiction of Ningxia Zhongwei and is already three hundred miles away from Lingzhou.
Most of the Ningxia Central Guard troops had gathered in Lingzhou City, and a small number of them were stationed at the small ferry of the Yellow River southwest of Qingtongxia. Zhang Yanling and his party did not alert them. They deliberately avoided the small ferry during the march, which also delayed half a day.
The position north of the Yellow River in Ningxia Town protrudes to the north, like a middle finger extending to the north. The Yellow River cuts off the entire finger from the base, so it becomes a natural chasm blocking the advance. The position of Mingshazhou is no longer in confrontation.
front.
Although it is still south of the Yellow River, the opposite side of the Yellow River is no longer under the jurisdiction of Ningxia Town, but a desert Gobi belonging to the Tatars. A huge, lifeless and barren land. The Tatars call it Tengri, which means
It means sky. That means that this desert is as vast and boundless as the sky.
It is said that the place named Mingshazhou got its name because even on the south bank of the Yellow River, the sound of Mingshazhou can be heard in the vast desert on the other side.
This was the marching route Zhang Yanling chose.
Since the rebels on the other side of the Yellow River are heavily defended and cannot cross the river from the front, why not take a detour.
Simply cross the river north from the edge of the Tengger Desert, the base of the Tatars, to the west of the town of Ningxia controlled by the rebels, and then rush out from the mountain pass in the south of the Helan Mountain. A magic soldier descends from the sky and suddenly appears near the city of Ningxia.
A center blooms. This is the most secretive and feasible method that Zhang Yanling thinks.
However, the challenge of doing so is obviously huge. Crossing the river may not be the biggest human problem anymore, but marching north through the Gobi Desert on the opposite side is the biggest challenge.
The Gobi desert is a land of death. Heat and thirst are likely to be the biggest opponents.
Since it is necessary to hide the traces to achieve the effect of divine soldiers descending from the sky, on the way north, you cannot get too close to the edge of the Gobi Desert, otherwise you will be discovered by the defenders of the beacons on the border. Therefore, the marching route of the soldiers and horses must be
We need to go deep into the Gobi Desert. Although we don't mean to completely cross it, we must at least keep a few miles away from the edge to ensure that we will not be discovered.
In this way, the danger can be imagined. You must know that the Tengger Desert is as vast as the sea, a place where scorching heat, thirst, sandstorms and violent winds rage. This is a place that even the Tatars dare not cross easily.
What's more, these soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty.
In addition to the threats posed by the harsh geographical environment, when crossing the Tatar territory, you are also very likely to encounter Tatar soldiers and horses. The edge of the desert is the border between the Ming Dynasty and the Tatars, and after crossing the Yellow River, there is the Tatar
The territory of the Tatars. The Ming Dynasty set up forts for defense around the border, and the Tatars would also have troops stationed or patrolled.
The risk of encountering Tatars exists, and this threat is no less dangerous than crossing the Gobi Desert. In the territory of the Tatars, they have adapted to and are familiar with the terrain and weather. If they are entangled with them, the results will be difficult to predict.
Moreover, Zhang Yanling never wanted to get entangled with the Tatars, because his purpose was not to fight the Tatars, but to use the passage to enter Ningxia to suppress the rebellion. If he got entangled and wasted time, the entire plan would fail completely.
Reaching the northern hinterland of Ningxia Town before Yang Yiqing launches the cross-river operation is the key to completing the entire plan. Otherwise, it will be like throwing yourself into a trap. Once the opponent defeats the river-crossing army, they will mobilize troops to strengthen internal defense, and everything will turn into
bubble.
Therefore, in terms of time, Zhang Yanling was left with less than ten days. He must complete this plan within ten days.
Zhang Yanling rode his horse and stood on the slope of the south bank of the Yellow River, looking into the distance across the Yellow River.
On the other side of the Yellow River, within a hundred steps of the river, there is a lush green color. Because it is close to the river, these trees and grass can still survive. But as you look farther away, the green is gradually replaced by a gray look, and occasionally
There are a few trees standing alone in the wilderness.
Looking further out through the telescope, we can see the undulating sand dunes in the distance, just like the undulating sea surface. But it is not a real sea, but a vast sea.
Zhang Yanling frowned and watched all this, and everyone around him also frowned. They were surprised and excited after learning about the plan. However, at this moment, they all realized that implementing this plan would be extremely difficult and dangerous.
It is even very likely to cause extremely serious consequences.
With the sound of horse hooves, a group of cavalry galloped along the wilderness beside the river bend. In the middle, there were fifty or sixty soldiers who were tied up and captured.
When he arrived at the bottom of the hillside, Zhao Yuancheng got off his horse and reported loudly: "Master Marquis, we are here."
Zhang Yanling nodded, rode his horse down the slope, and came closer.
"Untie them." Zhang Yanling ordered.
Dozens of prisoners were soon untied and stood on the ground. These dozens of people were soldiers and horses of the Ningxia Central Guard, who were stationed at the bank fortress near Mingsha Island to monitor the enemy's situation.
The purpose of Zhang Yanling's order to capture them was, firstly, to inquire about the situation here, and secondly, to control them and prevent them from discovering the traces of his soldiers and horses and thus exposing their whereabouts. Zhang Yanling did not want this plan to start at the beginning.
Then it was known to Yang Yiqing or Wugan people.
"I am Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang, the chief military officer sent by the imperial court to suppress the rebellion. Brothers, I have offended you. I have no other intention in arresting you. I just don't want you to find out the news about us here and leak our whereabouts. We
We have to cross the river from here, so from now on, I have wronged you all, and you will have to be guarded here. Don't worry, you will be released soon. In addition, I need you to provide some information, and I hope you can cooperate."
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice.
The remaining soldiers and horses of the Ningxia Central Guard were still in a state of confusion. They saw a large group of cavalry arriving here and found that they were their own. When they were thinking about what was going on and whether they wanted to come and inquire, they were suddenly stopped by the other party.
They were all disarmed and tied up. Only then did they realize that these people were actually going to cross the river. Everyone was dumbfounded.
"Master Zhang, did you hear me right? Do you want to cross the river?" a general asked hurriedly.
"Yes. We have to cross the river and cross the desert." Zhang Yanling said.
"You can't do it, Mr. Zhang. You can't enter the desert. There's no return from there." The commander-in-chief shouted loudly.
"What are you arguing about? Shut up!" Chen Shiyi shouted.
The commander-in-chief said to himself: "Everyone, it's not the little guys who are making noise. The opposite side is a big desert. If you go in, you will die. Let alone cross the desert. I'm just thinking about you."
Zhang Yanling waved his hand and said: "You only need to tell me where you can safely cross the river here, as well as the number of Tatar soldiers and horses on the opposite side, the pattern of their coming and going, and where their forts and garrison are. You don't need to do the rest.
Worry."
The general had no choice but to give up. At that moment, he answered some of Zhang Yanling's questions.
According to him, there are two Tatar strongholds opposite, located in an oasis a few miles north of the river bank. The number of people is about one or two hundred. Because every morning and evening, two groups of Tatar cavalry of more than a hundred people come.
Patrolling near the river bank. The two sides often exchanged insults across the Yellow River, exposing each other's private parts and urinating to humiliate each other.
As for the swimming place that Zhang Yanling asked about, there is no suitable place. But the general banner said that three miles to the southwest is a big bend of the Yellow River. The river is open and flat, and the water is slow. Local people often ride
They used sheepskin rafts to fish around the bends, cut down trees on the other side, hunt in the Gobi Desert, etc.
Zhang Yanling immediately ordered his troops to go to the bend of the Yellow River. As expected, it was a huge bend of almost 18 degrees. The river level was very gentle. And there was a village called Xinjiazhuang at the bend of the river, where sixty or seventy families lived.
, every family has sheepskin rafts, bamboo rafts and other river crossing tools.
The common people thought that Zhang Yanling and others were going to cross the river to fight the Tatars, and they were all very happy. They took the initiative to send troops and horses across the river, because they often went to the other side to cut trees while fishing on the river.
When Shushu was hunting, he was attacked by Tatars. He hated the Tatars with all his heart.
Zhang Yanling did not deny it, after all, the explanation was meaningless.
The crossing of the river began quickly. Ten sheepskin rafts first carried 60 musketeers and dozens of archers to the other side. Chen Shiyi was the first to cross the river and commanded the more than 100 people to organize defensive positions to prevent
Tatar soldiers and horses suddenly appeared.
After that, a large-scale river crossing operation began. With so many people crossing the river, they only relied on a dozen sheepskin rafts and some wooden rafts. The speed can be imagined. And crossing the river with war horses was the most difficult thing to do. Zhang Yanling had to first
He ordered the soldiers to cross the river. In the evening, more than two thousand soldiers
After all the soldiers crossed the river, they connected all the sheepskin rafts and rafts into large rafts and rafts. Fences and rungs were added to them to separate small cage-like spaces to restrict the movement of the horses.
The horses, blindfolded, pulled several large rafts one by one and began to cross the river.
Only seventy or eighty horses could be transported across the river in one round trip. Fortunately, the river was calm, so it could take half an hour. Even so, it was already early in the morning when all three thousand people and horses crossed the Yellow River.
Dozens of raft operators were exhausted. The soldiers were okay. Because they knew it would be a long time, they slept in groups at the beginning. After crossing the river, almost everyone took turns to sleep.
When Zhang Yanling stepped onto the opposite river bank under the starlight, she was both excited and nervous. Under the starlight in the distance, the Gobi Desert was completely dark. The wind that was blowing had the smell of gravel and a strange smell.
Hot. Giving people a sense of unknown fear and tension.
But in any case, the successful crossing of the river meant that the plan was off to a good start. After a short rest, Zhang Yanling ordered the troops to immediately form a team and prepare to set off.