At the northwest end of Ningxia, there is a high mountain that stretches for hundreds of miles from north to south. The name of the mountain is Helan.
Since ancient times, Helan Mountain has been a hotspot for fighting between the Central Plains regime and the nomadic peoples of the northwest. From the Han, Tang, and even Zhao, Song, and Ming dynasties, the place has been filled with wars of confrontation for thousands of years. Every plant, tree, peak, and stone here has witnessed it.
Countless wars have passed. Countless heroic stories have spread here, and countless people's blood has been shed.
Driving a long car and crossing the gap in the Helan Mountains. This is the dream and place of glory for many passionate and loyal soldiers.
The reasons why Helan Mountain has become a place of hot war for thousands of years are of course very complicated. But from a geographical perspective, Helan Mountain stretches across the north and south, isolating the Alxa Plateau to the west and the Ningxia Plain to the east, and has become a place where the northern nomadic tribes and the Central Plains
A natural barrier between political powers must be one of the important reasons.
Whether it is the Huns of the Han Dynasty, the Turks of the Tang Dynasty, or the Ming Dynasty's once fierce enemy in the northwest, the Mongolian Wara tribe, if they want to occupy Ningxia, a land protected by mountains and nourished by the Yellow River, they must conquer this barrier.
Break through the defense system here. This has also become a hot spot for both sides to fight.
The reason why the Central Plains Dynasty was able to control Ningxia for a long time was largely due to the barrier of Helan Mountain.
On a dark night, at the foot of the southern slope of Helan Mountain, three thousand cavalry led by Zhang Yanling, the Marquis of Jianchang of the Ming Dynasty, had just arrived here after enduring many hardships and dangers from the dim and vast Gobi Desert.
It was already early in the morning, half a day later than Zhang Yanling's expected arrival time. That was because he encountered unimaginable difficulties on the way. But no matter what, Zhang Yanling's adventurous surprise attack operation had finally completed the extremely dangerous task at this moment.
The first step can be said to have achieved initial great success.
When everyone stepped onto the edge of the grass and trees below the hillside, the cavalrymen, who were tortured by exhaustion, thirst, and fear, all felt as if they were surviving a disaster. If they had a choice, they would never want to experience anything like the past two days in their lives.
It took two nights of marching in the desert and Gobi. They might rather fight against thousands of enemies than face the attacks of the thirsty heat and sandstorms. Those are enemies they cannot defeat.
Zhang Yanling also breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew that a greater test was coming. Not to mention what happened next, there were many real dangers in front of him.
So far, it is still within the control area of the Tatars. All areas west of Helan Mountain are not safe. Now my eyes are darkened. I wonder if there is an enemy fortress nearby. This is the first danger.
Secondly, the most critical issue at the moment is how to cross the mountains in front of us and reach Ningxia Town. Although the mountains on the south side of Helan Mountain are much shorter than the main peaks in the north, the distance from east to west is only forty miles. But if you want to
Crossing the Helan Mountains is not just talk. Unless you have wings, choosing the right passage to cross the mountain pass, finding the crossing path, and crossing over without anyone noticing is the most important problem that needs to be solved at present.
If there is a suitable passage, it only takes half a day to cross to Ningxia Town, east of Helan Mountain. But where is the crossing and whether it is a safe passage, these are all questions.
However, before considering these problems, we must first solve the practical problems. This march lasted two days and two nights, and the people and horses were exhausted, with almost no time to rest. Moreover, all the fresh water carried had been exhausted, and the most urgent need at the moment was
The purpose is to find a suitable camping spot, replenish fresh water, and allow the men and horses to rest. At the same time, it can also avoid being exposed to the sight of enemies who may be nearby after dawn.
Zhang Yanling quickly ordered, regardless of where this place is or where the mountain pass is, first let the soldiers and horses enter the hillside forest to hide. Then he sent more than ten scout teams to search nearby for water sources, investigate the enemy's situation, and find a place to rest.
.
In the early morning, we finally found a mountain stream in the valley not far away. There were gentle woodlands on both sides of the mountain stream, which could be used as a temporary camping place for soldiers and horses. So before dawn, the soldiers and horses arrived at the mountain stream, and finally it was very early.
We quickly set up camp and settled down.
The men and horses drank water and fell asleep in the forest. They were all exhausted. Zhang Yanling also fell asleep, he was too tired. His physical fitness was actually average, and his body after time travel was not actually strong. After that,
Although some training was carried out
However, there was not much progress in practice. Fortunately, the skin that traveled through time had some foundation in martial arts. After all, the princes of the Ming Dynasty were not awarded titles without martial arts. The skin before time travel still suffered a bit.
Did some exercise.
Of course, the more important thing is that this is a young body. He is in his early twenties and is not a weak person. How can his physical fitness be worse? In addition, Zhang Yanling has a strong will, so he can hold on even if he is forced to do so.
Came here.
But even so, Zhang Yanling was still exhausted and fell into a deep sleep. When he opened his eyes, the sun shone through the woods and it was already bright. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping.
Zhang Yanling got up in a hurry. He originally planned to only sleep for an hour or two before getting up, but now it was obviously overtime. He angrily wanted to settle the score with Chen Shiyi, because he told Chen Shi to wake up at dawn.
Wake yourself up, it's obvious that Chen Shiyi didn't do this.
However, Chen Shiyi was not in the camp. He called Zhang Yin and asked, only to find out that Chen Shiyi had personally led people to search for a way around the area.
"Don't be angry, Mr. Hou. It's not that Brother Chen doesn't want to wake Mr. Hou up, but he feels that Mr. Hou is working too hard. Anyway, Mr. Hou said that after waking up, he is going to explore the road, so he should simply go explore the road and search.
Mr. Marquis, please sleep a little longer. Mr. Hou must not be exhausted, otherwise it will be detrimental to important events."
Zhang Yanling didn't know what to say after hearing what Zhang Yin said. Chen Shiyi did this for his own sake and to protect himself. He didn't get much rest either. Besides, it wasn't too late at the moment, so he could watch the sun.
The height should be around 1 hour, and not much time was wasted.
The soldiers in the camp also got up one after another. There was a stone pool washed out below the mountain stream. The soldiers gathered around the pool to wash their heads and faces, but they couldn't wash them clean. The mud mixed with dust and sweat covered their bodies, which made people feel uncomfortable.
They felt very uncomfortable, but without orders, they wanted to go into the water to clean but did not dare to do so.
Zhang Yin asked Zhang Yanling if he could let the soldiers wash themselves in the water. Many of them were itching unbearably, and their armor and clothes were full of dirt and gravel, making them very uncomfortable.
Zhang Yanling thought for a while and agreed to Zhang Yin's request. Keeping the body clean is also a fighting force, and it is effective in recovering the fatigue of the soldiers. Although it will delay time, it doesn't seem to take long, after all, the way has not been found yet.
.
So Zhang Yin ordered that everyone be allowed to go into the water to wash their bodies, and that people should be warned and bathed in batches, and the time should be limited to solve the problem quickly.
After giving the order, water splashed in the pool. The soldiers stripped naked and jumped into the pool one by one. Then someone shouted.
"This water is so cold!"
"Why is it so cold? Ouch, I'm freezing to death."
A group of guys quickly washed their bodies and climbed out of the pool as quickly as possible without even being urged by the supervising general.
Zhang Yanling stood on the shore and laughed loudly: "Of course it's cold. This is the season when the snow on the top of the mountain melts. This is melted snow water. How can it not be cold?"
Everyone was stunned. Zhang Yanling quickly took off her clothes and said loudly: "The desert is scorching hot and the lake is cold. Brothers, you are really lucky. We have come to a world of ice and fire."
Amid the knowing laughter of the soldiers, Zhang Yanling jumped into the pool.
Perhaps the cold water was refreshing, and the soldiers recovered from their fatigue after bathing.
Zhang Yanling was fully dressed and took out the map he drew when he came to look at it. Of course he had done some homework before coming, and he also had some understanding of some of the passes through Helan Mountain. At this moment, he was able to compare and identify the location.
While he was looking at the map carefully, Chen Shiyi came back with his explorers. There were three more men in the team. An old man and two young men.
Without waiting for Zhang Yanling to ask, Chen Shi stepped forward to report.
"Master Marquis, I despised three people who were sneaking around in the forest opposite. They said they were hunting. I was worried that they were the spies of the Tatars and that they would reveal our whereabouts, so I arrested them."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yanling hurriedly asked people to escort the three people over. The three people were wearing short shirts and ordinary clothes. Their clothes and appearance did not look like Tatars.
"Who are you?" Zhang Yanling asked.
"Gentlemen, we are hunters. Gentlemen, please spare our lives. We dare not come here to hunt anymore. Please forgive us. We will give you a few pieces of skin we hunted. Please let us go." The face of the old man said.
Terrified, he cried out for mercy.
On the other hand, the two young men had stubborn expressions. One of them had a dark face. He frowned and said, "Dad, why are you begging for mercy from the Tatars? If they catch you, you will die. You will die on both sides, so why beg them."
The old man said angrily: "Shut up, don't shut up yet."
Zhang Yanling frowned and said: "Are you father and son? Are you from the Ming Dynasty?"
Another younger-looking man shouted: "What are you asking? Kill us if you want. We are not afraid of death."
The old man stamped his feet and sighed repeatedly.
Zhang Yanling felt strange that there were hunters from the Ming Dynasty to the west of Helan Mountain. But these three people didn't seem to be acting, and they didn't look like Tatars.
Everyone around was stunned. The father and son looked confused. They didn't know what Zhang Yanling was talking about.
Zhang Yanling observed their expressions and then felt relieved. He said two sentences in Tatar words, which meant, 'Bitch, kill you.' It seemed that these three people did not have any reaction. If they were Tatars,
If you shout loudly, they will always react.
"This old man, are you really a citizen of the Ming Dynasty? Then why did you come to the west of Helan Mountain?" Zhang Yanling asked in a deep voice.
When the old man was about to speak, two young men said loudly: "Dad, there is no need to talk to them. These Tatars have no good intentions and want us to lead the way again. Have you forgotten what happened to Li Laosan in Lijiazhuang last time? We will die."
If you die, you will die, but you can’t harm the people in Zhuangzi.”
Zhao Yuancheng couldn't help but shouted: "Shut up, why are Tatars not Tatars? We are soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty, are you blind?"
"Ah? What?" The three of them were stunned.
Zhang Yanling glanced at Zhao Yuancheng with a wry smile, and didn't know whether to blame him. His uncle was not shrewd enough to take the initiative to announce his family status to someone whose identity was unknown. Fortunately, if the details of the three people in front of him were unclear, then
He must be killed and silenced, but it doesn't matter.
"We don't believe it. How could the soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty appear here? You Tatars do these tricks every day, pretending to be soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty to deceive others. Whoever believes it is stupid. Dad, brother, don't believe them."
The man sneered.
The older man with a dark complexion said, "I don't believe it, dad, and you can't believe it either."
Zhang Yanling said coldly: "I'm asking you now. Whether you believe it or not, it doesn't matter. Tell me, are you people from the Ming Dynasty? Why are you here? Tell me."
"Dad, don't talk nonsense." The two young men shouted again.
The old man didn't know whether he should speak or not. Zhang Yanling said: "General Chen, take those two boys and chop them up to save the noise."
Chen Shi waved his hands one by one, and several soldiers came forward and pushed the two men away. The old man knelt down and shouted: "Master, please forgive us, Master, please spare your life, we are indeed the common people of the Ming Dynasty, living on the other side of the mountain. Come over here."
It's for hunting. There are many deer here, but there are not many wild animals over there, so we have no choice but to secretly come here to hunt. Master, please forgive me, we don't dare to do it anymore."