In the early morning of the next day, Lin Jue had just finished washing and dressing up when he received a report that the pontoon bridge was about to be built and the army could cross the river within half an hour.
Lin Jue was a little surprised. With the width of the White Horse Ferry, it would take a lot of time to build a pontoon bridge. Although the river here is calm, it is the widest section of the river, with a width of several miles. And the river here is very deep, so it needs to be built.
A pontoon bridge for people, horses, and heavy vehicles to cross the river is not as simple as just building a pontoon bridge that people can walk on.
After a simple breakfast, Lin Jue, Sun Dayong, Bai Bing and Gao Muqing, surrounded by their guards, flew to the ferry a few miles away. On the rolling Yellow River in front of them, a pontoon bridge about seven to eight feet wide had already opened from the river.
One end extends to the far opposite bank. Although this is just a pontoon bridge, according to the construction standards of this era, it is a grand and extremely difficult project. Three thousand engineers from the Luoyan Army Engineer Battalion can complete this in just one night
The feat is truly astonishing.
"Where is Ruan Ping?" Lin Jue asked loudly.
"Reporting to the commander, Mr. Ruan is on the river embankment over there." Someone reported back.
Lin Jue strode toward a willow forest on the east bank of the river, and saw a man lying in a grass nest under the willow tree, snoring loudly and sleeping soundly.
"Sir Ruan, the marshal is here." An engineer battalion rushed forward to wake up Ruan Ping, but Lin Jue was unable to stop him and Ruan Ping was woken up.
"Oh, why did I fall asleep? Is everything okay? Have all the fixed wooden posts been checked? Have all the anchorages been checked? Have you tried letting the carriages and horses cross the river?" Ruan Ping got up quickly.
, seeing the team standing in front of him, he asked repeatedly.
Before the captain could speak, Lin Jue laughed and said: "Brother Ruan, you have worked hard. It's really amazing. It was completed overnight. I thought it would be at least noon."
Ruan Ping then saw Lin Jue and others standing on the high embankment, and hurriedly apologized: "I'm really sorry. I just sat here and wanted to take a breath, but ended up falling asleep. Damn it, damn it."
Lin Jue came closer and saw Ruan Ping's tired face and red bloodshot eyes, and was deeply moved. Ruan Ping's clothes were all wet, and his body was covered with grass clippings and dirt, and he looked extremely depressed.
"Brother Ruan, why are you wet?" Lin Jue asked.
Before Ruan Ping could answer, the engineering battalion next to him said: "We Sir Ruan spent the whole night soaking in the water, driving pilings and fixing the pontoon bridge ourselves. We didn't rest all night. We are almost finished, so we came here to rest and catch our breath."
Ruan Ping shouted: "Captain Ding, why are you talking about this? Aren't all brothers like this? This is what we should do. It's not worth mentioning."
Lin Jue nodded slightly, reached out and took off his cloak, and stepped forward to put it on Ruan Ping. Ruan Ping said hurriedly: "Commander, what are you doing?"
Lin Jue shouted loudly: "Pass my order, the entire engineering battalion of the Infantry Division will be recorded for their great merits, awarded the title of Hard-core Battalion, and each person will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. The commander of the engineering battalion, Ruan Ping, plus the deputy commander of the Infantry Division, and all the engineers
The general of the barracks will be promoted to an official rank. This order will be announced to the entire army."
Ruan Ping was shocked and angry, and a group of soldiers from the engineering battalion next to him were stunned, and then cheered loudly.
Engineer Battalion as Luoyan
The status of the auxiliary arms in the army is actually quite embarrassing. It is said that everyone in the Luoyan Army is equal, but in fact it is impossible. The main combat arms are always aloof and arrogant, while the auxiliary arms are subordinate to them. The establishment of the engineering battalion was originally a military
In order to meet the needs, there are always many people in the Luoyan Army's high-intensity training who are eventually eliminated from the ranks of the main battle team. It is not that these people are not excellent, but that they may be lacking in martial arts training and combat coordination, but every time
Each individual has his or her own merits. For example, those soldiers who are as smart as monkeys may not have the best combat ability, but they have quick brains and are good at maneuvering. These people are incorporated into the scout battalion and the Xuanyi Guard as a reconnaissance force. The engineer battalion is
It is better to be filled by soldiers who are physically strong but have low combat skills. Lin Jue's original intention is naturally to put people to their best use, but Lin Jue did not expect that the hierarchy of primary and secondary arms in the army would be created.
.But Lin Jue has no intention to change these. In fact, Lin Jue also understands that this kind of inequality is actually needed in the army. The morale of the main battle soldiers comes from their excellent combat skills. These people are still relied on on the battlefield.
They bleed and fight desperately. Therefore, it is necessary to give them some status improvement.
Because of this, the various auxiliary logistics units in the Luoyan Army naturally cannot hold their heads high. Being unable to directly participate in the battle is a depressing matter in itself. The matter of merit-based rewards can only be ranked at the back, or even not at all.
There is no such delusion. But today, Marshal Lin actually commended the engineering battalion for its great achievements and awarded it the honorary title of 'Hard Bones Battalion'. This is the first of its kind. The main battle battalions of the Luoyan Army all have their own trademarks for their bravery.
Titles, such as 'Flying Tiger Camp', 'Thunderbolt Camp', 'Steel Camp' and so on. Under each battalion, there are various queue titles for outstanding performance, and there are even queues named after soldiers with outstanding military exploits and bravery in combat.
These honorary titles are even more prestigious than awards and promotions. They are the most valued honors in the Luoyan Army. Now that the Engineer Battalion finally has such a title, why not teach Ruan Ping and the soldiers in the Engineer Battalion to cheer and be excited.
"Commander, this... this... Ruan Ping would like to thank Marshal on behalf of the brothers. The hard work of the brothers has not been in vain." Ruan Ping was excited and incoherent.
Lin Jue smiled and patted his shoulder and said: "Brother Ruan, you are very good. You are also an old brother of the Luoyan Army. You have worked hard all these years without any regard for gains or losses. When I asked you to lead the engineering battalion, you didn't complain at all, and you thought a lot about it."
I admire them from the bottom of my heart for creating many novel methods of building bridges and roads. After this war, I have some ideas I want to share with you. They are some of the tools and methods for road and bridge construction that I imagined.
In addition, I plan to recommend you to be the head of the Ministry of Industry. The Zhou Dynasty will build large-scale bridges and dams in the future, and Brother Ruan will be of great use to you."
Ruan Ping bowed and saluted, excited. It turned out that the commander-in-chief saw everything. In fact, the commander-in-chief knew it in his heart. He could see everyone's efforts, and he would never treat every brother badly.
The news coming from the front was as Lin Jue expected, there were no Jurchen soldiers ambushing on the other side. The city of Liyang was also a dilapidated and destroyed empty city, and the Jurchens did not stay in the Liyang area at all. So Lin Jue ordered the army to set off. Starting from Si hour,
The army crossed the river in large numbers, and by the end of the afternoon, all the army had crossed Baima Ferry. After a brief rest, they advanced to the northeast. That night, they stationed themselves at the county government office in Beijun County, Liyang, and continued their march the next day.
In the evening of that day, the cavalry army led by Ma Qingshan had arrived in Linhe County, southwest of Puyang City, which was already a small county less than fifty miles away from Puyang.
In fact, after entering Kaide Mansion, the scouts continued to send messages, reporting that there were a large number of enemy traces near Puyang, and the sneaky figures of Jurchen scouts were constantly discovered along the way. Both sides were actually paying close attention to each other's whereabouts. As both sides
As the distance got closer, a tense atmosphere began to permeate the army.
After arriving in Linhe County, the army was even more careful when stationed. There were dense sentries all around, and the camp site they chose was also on a hillside. But it was already the last hillside place. Before the sun set, Ma Qingshan personally led the army.
The cavalry surveyed the terrain ahead. As Marshal Lin said, the area around Puyang City was already a flat land with a radius of dozens of miles, and there was not even a decent mound. Obviously, as Lin Jue expected, the Jurchens
This place in the Pingchou wilderness was carefully chosen to fight to the death with the Luoyan Army.
That night, Lin Jue held a regular military meeting and laid out relevant combat strategies. Just as he was preparing to rest early so that he could get up early to march to Puyang tomorrow, the soldiers of the Luoyan Army outside captured two people who claimed to be Jurchen messengers.
Someone sent the Chinese army's tent. After hearing this, Lin Jue had no choice but to order someone to bring the messenger to the tent and receive him in person.
The visitors were indeed two Jurchens, both generals under the command of Wanyan Agu. Lin Jue did not know them, but these two people knew Lin Jue. And after meeting Lin Jue, these two people's first
This sentence surprised Lin Jue.
"Aqiha, Tu Hanhei, came to pay homage to Mr. Lin on the order of my Jurchen Golden Flower Princess."
Lin Jue was stunned, frowned and asked: "What?"
"Aqiha, Tu Hanhei, and I are here to pay homage to Mr. Lin on the orders of the Jurchen Princess Jinhua." The two Jurchens repeated.
"Princess Golden Flower? Are you saying that you came here on Mingyue's orders?" Lin Jue said in surprise.
"Yes, and no. We are also here on the orders of Chief Wanyan." A Qiha said.
Lin Jue shouted in a deep voice: "What the hell are you doing? What are you going to say?"
Azha laughed and said, "Don't be upset, Mr. Lin. We have been ordered by the chief to deliver a letter to Mr. Lin on behalf of my Princess Jinhua."
Azha's words seemed like tongue twisters.
Lin Jue felt more and more that something was wrong, and said in a deep voice: "You two, just say what you have to say, there is no need to go around and around. Why on earth does your leader Wanyan want you to come here?"
Tu Han gangster said: "Report to Mr. Lin, our Chief Wanyan didn't want to do anything. Princess Jinhua is in my army camp. Because I miss my uncle very much, Chief Wanyan ordered me and I to send a message to Princess Jinhua.
Come. Here is the letter, please take a look at it."
Lin Jue's heart froze and he frowned. It was really an accident that Wanyan Mingyue was in the Jurchen camp. Wasn't she far away in the Jurchen tribe in Changbai Mountain with her children? That time she sent someone to deliver a message to her
That's what he said. She was not in the Jurchen army before, so why did she appear here now? Why did she come here when she knew there was going to be a war?
Lin Jue suddenly thought of a possibility and couldn't help frowning, feeling a little panicked.
