With the help of the south wind in summer and autumn, the fleet slowly passed through Penglize like an unprecedented long dragon.
Just after passing Penglize, the reconnaissance ship in front captured several Chu State soldiers along the river. These unlucky guys just came to the river to catch some fish, shrimp and game.
There are many pheasants and ducks in the reed marshes, and the birds cannot eat them, but there is always no shortage of eggs.
If there are still fish and turtles, that would be better.
But the Chu people never expected that on the vast river, which is more than a hundred miles wide, there would be sails covering the sky and the sun.
At the end of the horizontal line, with towering masts and neat sails, the boats looked like giant beasts, lining up neatly and heading upstream!
"Report! Water flow changes direction!"
The direction began to change. Li Jie looked at the sun and judged that he had passed Pengli Ze. Landmarks along the coast could also be seen. Some of the landmarks were very obvious. They were carved on the rock wall and then painted with black or red paint.
"Aim northwest and observe the landmarks along the coast!"
"yes!"
"Sign up and signal the captains of all ships to pay attention to the current!"
"yes!"
"Today, go straight to Yingdu!"
"yes!"
On the watchtower of the mast, the sailors first used mirrors to reflect the sunlight. After the ships behind noticed it, they responded immediately.
Then, the sailors on the watchtower began to signal.
"Water Diversion"
"The water turns!"
"turning sail"
"Turn the sail!"
Dong dong dong dong...
On the decks of each ship, the sailors were busy quickly, and the oarsmen who had not been at their work stations were always ready to start work.
The poles prepared to prevent hitting the bottom were immediately set up on the side of the ship, and the punters were always on hand to take precautions.
"Captain, landmark number three."
On the warship where Sha Dong was located, the deputy constantly used binoculars to search for landmarks along the coast.
After confirming the direction, Shadong immediately looked at the map and made an estimate with a ruler. Shadong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief: "The next section of the river is much easier to walk."
"We are here, Nanyi of Chu State is here."
Sha Dong clicked on the map, "After Nanyi, Yunmengze is not far away."
"Along the river in the south of Yunmengze, the Chu State's boat fleet is weak and its mausoleum fleet is sparse. However, we still cannot take it lightly. The Zhou family has been based in Yunmengze for hundreds of years. Although it has been repeatedly bullied by the Han River countries, it still has some strength. We must use
The state of Fangzhou welcomes the state of Chu!"
"yes!"
"Lower the sail!"
"yes!"
Not long after, a small sailboat with a long and narrow hull fell into the water with a "bang". After the two sailors got on the boat, they first rowed a distance with oars, and then quickly opened the sails.
This is a sail made of a mixture of silk and linen, with horsehair and a small amount of whale baleen added to it. It is also tough enough.
In just a short while, the small sailboat took advantage of the wind and sailed upstream at an astonishing speed.
Moreover, the way this small sailboat moves is very strange. The two sailors on the boat constantly adjust the angle of the sail and use their own weight to adjust the center of gravity of the boat, allowing the sailboat to turn at "high speed".
Although this was not the first time he saw it, every time he saw this scene, Sha Dong sighed with emotion. It would be great if everyone could do this.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to train sailors on such high-speed sailing ships. There are less than twenty ships in the entire Jiangyin City, with a total of forty-seven qualified personnel, and it is barely enough to form five teams.
These high-speed sailing ships are mainly used to convey important information and convey orders while the ship is in motion.
For the reconnaissance ship in front, the overall shape of the ship remains the same, but it has been slightly modified. The number of crew members has increased, and the weapons and equipment are also more complex.
"Shou Li! It's Kuaifan."
"Um."
The sails were slightly lowered, and after the high-speed sailboat approached, a sailor on the boat immediately picked up a bow and arrow and shot an arrow at the big ship.
There is also a small bamboo tube tied to the eagle feather arrow, and stuffed inside is the message to be conveyed.
Boom!
The eagle feather arrow without the arrowhead still hit the deck building, and without the arrowhead, it could still penetrate the ordinary wooden planks on the deck building.
"Shou Li."
"Um."
Pulling out the paper from the bamboo tube, after reading it, Li Jie showed joy: "According to the current progress, we should be able to pass Yunmengze today."
"What kind of state is this? How many people are there in the whole country?"
It's not that Li Jie is too arrogant, but the state's national strength is actually very weak. Not to mention fighting with the Chu State, just fighting floods every year basically consumes all the national resources.
In the past two years, the state has been able to survive without being completely occupied by the Chu state. This is purely because the trade between Wu and Chu has been too developed, and it has been able to survive by exporting a large amount of raw materials to Jiangyin.
Because the king's consumption of bronze vessels was greatly reduced, the number of bronze vessels used in the country naturally increased.
Moreover, the state cannot directly export to Jiangyin, and there is no good ship. Even if Li Jie can organize a ship group to pass through Penglize.
In the entire Jianghan region, only Chu State has the strength to take risks, but it is just an adventure. Without a good season, going to Pengli Ze is almost like going to the sea on a small sampan.
Therefore, the import and export of the state also borrows the land and inland rivers in the north. At most, it goes straight down to the vicinity of Nanyiyi. The forces here are more complex and there are many southern barbarian groups. However, Wu State does have caravans from the south, which can bypass Penglize.
, or in other words, slow current prevails in the southern part of Penglize.
If you cross the southern part of Penglize from east to west, you can transfer to the land route.
Then we can carry out exchange trade in the coastal areas on the south bank of the Yangtze River, not only in the states of Zhou, Chu, Luo, Qunshu, Qunchao, Yingshi, Jingman, Nanchao, Baipu and other large and small countries and regions.
All the civil forces are concentrated here, forming a dotted trade belt.
The scale is small, perhaps not as large as a town in Wu State, but it is a good thing to have communication channels.
Moreover, Li Jie is different from Wu State. Li Jie's Jiangyin city requires division of labor, and the social division of labor that naturally occurs is different.
Gangyin-eup is very guiding, and whatever you want is what you want, which often results in the formation of local industries.
Nowadays, Haiyang's ramie has become a specialty product. Because it is close to Leiyi, it is also called "Leima" in order to gain glory.
The same is true for states. In order to exchange for stone tools, pottery, low-priced silk, and linen clothing, states mainly use various leathers.
As long as the state can obtain it in this area, it used to be kept as tribute to the Chu State, but now it is sold in exchange trade.
One-third of the ivory and rhino horns hoarded in Jiangyin City were hunted and rounded up by the state on the south bank of the Yangtze River.
In the past, paying tribute to the Chu State was done at a certain point, with basically no motivation. But it is different now. The state has gained a lot of benefits from the exchange trade.
Paying tribute to the Chu State was basically a loss of blood and a net loss.
But you can make some money by trading with Li Jie. For some middle and low-level noble warriors, it's not just a little money, but a lot.
In the past hundred years or so, there may not have been as many people from the state who were able to travel to Yingdu at their own expense as in the past year.
This is a small country, no matter how hard it is, it will be like this.
Li Jie didn't even look down on Jiba's hometown of the Six Kingdoms, let alone the more humble states.
However, for the sake of convenience, Li Jie decided to split a boat over after entering Yunmengze and destroy the state. After destroying the state, the prisoners of the state can be used at that time.
Before the follow-up fleet follows up, the raid on Zhugong Palace and Yingdu will require manpower in all aspects.
It would be inappropriate for them to do some dirty work, so it would be much more convenient to leave it to people from the state.
When necessary, he can also use the heads of the people of Zhou to calm the anger of the people of Chu.
"After ordering Sha Xixi to enter Yunmengze, there is no need to go westward, but to go south against the current and destroy the state."
"yes!"
The order was quickly written and stamped, and then an arrow was shot out. After the arrow hit the water, the bamboo tube rose and fell on the water.
The sailor on the boat picked up a bamboo pole with a hook and fished out the bamboo tube.
Then the high-speed sailboat furled its sails, and the two sailors picked up the oars and began to paddle quickly back to the group behind them.
"Destroy the state?"
Shaxi, who was on the same boat as Shadong, looked confused after reading the boss's order: "Then when will we meet in Yingdu?"
"Just waiting for the order." After Sha Dong said this, seeing Sha Xi's eyes showing reluctance, he said, "You are the only one here who has dealt with people from the state. You are in Tangyi, and you are more familiar with things like this.
terrain."
"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that the state is too weak. The current state may not even have a thousand regular soldiers. The country's armaments are depleted. Our troops will go for a surprise attack. It will be easy to defeat them. How can we take over later?"
"Waiting for orders."
Sha Dong looked serious and said, "Perhaps the first Li will use someone from Shangzhou."
After receiving the order, Shaxi disembarked from the ship, took a small boat, and headed to his headquarters warship.
Unlike Shadong, Shaxi was responsible for investigation missions most of the time and temporarily served as an instructor for the security forces.
It was also out of this consideration that Li Jie put him in charge of destroying the state.
If it's a tough attack, you'll choose strong generals like Shah Heng and Shah Ha.
Shaxi, who has been engaged in investigation tasks and local security tasks for a long time, can use daily office methods to sort out the results of the battle after destroying the state.
In this way, if Li Jie succeeds in the Zhugong battle and needs manpower, Shaxi can immediately organize state prisoners of war and transport them to the front line for consumption.
In a war, no one knows what will happen, what if the logistics fleet cannot keep up, what if the Chu army fails to reach the third pass, the Dabie Mountains, what if there is a sudden heavy rainstorm that is rare in a century...
As long as such a strange situation occurs, the frontline staff will be relatively tight. There is a buffer in the middle, and obviously we need to be more confident.
Especially the State of Zhou and the State of Chu are not harmonious. As a country with the surname Yan, the State of Zhou is on the verge of bankruptcy. In the past year, it has only benefited from Li Jie's expansion dividends and has been able to survive.
Otherwise, according to the normal rise and fall of a country, the state should be completely digested by the Chu State.
In fact, this is also the case. There is already a large amount of Chu State power invested around the state.
Walled cities, military depots, mulberry fields, and savage settlements are encroaching on the state, constantly compressing the living space of the state. In fact, the remaining core land of the entire state can no longer support many people, and they have to turn to the south bank of the Yangtze River to make a living. :
:
It can be said that it is a half-farming, half-fishing and hunting country, and it also relies heavily on weather changes for gathering activities.
The entire national system is severely degraded compared to a hundred years ago.
The two armies of light and dark that attacked Chu, with great fanfare and momentum on the northern front, and their menacing deterrence not only forced the Chu State to build fortifications everywhere on the northwest front line of the Dabie Mountains, but also all the mountain pass checkpoints were lined with continuous fortifications and endless earthen walls.
.
There are many lakes and streams in the Chu land, and the geographical advantages will naturally be used. The leading troops of Huaishui Bofu's northern army have just passed Huangcheng, and the Chu State has closed all the bridges and ferries on the territory.
Also, taking advantage of the hot weather in summer and autumn, a fire burned all the dense forests south of the Dabie Mountains.
The elites of Yingdu had seen Li Jie's earthwork work during the Battle of Biyang, which left too many trees for the Wu people. As many bridges as the Chu people demolished, the Wu people could build as many as they could.
Today is different from the past. The engineers and soldiers under Huai Shui Bo Mansion's ability to build temporary buildings surpasses all the princes in the world.
It is not impossible for cities and towns to grow overnight.
No matter how independent they are, the local forces of Chu State are determined to fight for Chu State at this time.
There are surrender factions, and naturally there are also militant factions who want to fight happily.
Baiju Doushi, the "Arrow-bearing Scholar" who had his whole family killed by the Queen Mother of Chu, still chose to share the same destiny with Chu State at this moment. Mobile version::
There is no other reason, it is simply the hatred between Bai Judou and Li Jie, which is no less.
As long as Li Jie's rampant attack is blocked, merits will be rewarded after the war, and the Bai Ju Dou family can unite various families to oppose the Queen Mother Zhao, the chance will be greater.
The forbearance at this time, the gritted teeth and persistence at this time are all for the sake of more violent revenge in the future.
"The barbarian chief marched really quickly. Yesterday he was still in Huangcheng, and today he is approaching the Great Tunnel Pass!"
The scout's report shocked Dou Zun, the guard at Datun Pass. He knew very well that there were very few troops in the entire Chu State with such operational capabilities.
Because of the civil strife in Yingdu, many of the old soldiers of the Lingshi were dispersed. Now the Lingshi who has been assembled has a lot of new people in a mess.
Although there are veterans, they are all Empress Dowager Zhao's licking dogs.
There are also some veteran generals who have said goodbye to the Dou clan for a hundred years and have always wanted to dismember them and restore the absolute authority of King Chu.
"Mr. Danyang, Liuba is a traveler from the Huai River Bofu and has passed through Yun City."
"When did you get the hair cleansing water?"
"The day before yesterday."
Rubbing his temples and making some calculations, Douzun judged that Jiba should have seen the important ministers of the Chu State who were staying along the Han River at this moment. He didn't know whether he had seen the Queen Mother or the King.
"The enchantress fled south from Zhu Palace, and she will definitely take the king with her. I am afraid that all the princes in the court will also follow her south."
Douzun sighed. Jiba's visit was originally a good opportunity. Taking this opportunity to imprison the Queen Mother Zhao and then separate the King and the Queen Mother Zhao, things would be easier to handle.
But this kind of coup adventure is out of the question now.
In the face of a formidable enemy, a coup would be tantamount to suicide.
A strong enemy will not wait for you to be unified internally and come together to fight. Dou Zun has studied Li Jie's past achievements, including the achievements of Li Jie's generals. As long as a flaw is exposed and they seize the opportunity, the war will be over.
.
Dou Zun judged that this may really be related to "Li Zi's Art of War", because it requires extremely high quality of troops, so that they can crush the opponent to death with the help of superior troop quality.
So the more this happens, the more Dou Zun has to be on the front line and guard the tunnel.
Otherwise, for Li Jie's troops, there is no need to distinguish whether you are Dou Zun or he is the King of Chu. They are all Chu people anyway, and that's it.
"Mr. Danyang, the 'Yin of Huan Lie' has not yet sent the news. It is not yet known whether the king will go south."
"Ah."
Douzun smiled contemptuously. His son had previously asked him to cooperate with Xiang Bali and kill the Queen Mother Zhao. The idea was very good, but it was a pity that he was not stupid.
If King Qin is successful, then of course it means hello to you, me, and everyone.
It's a pity that Dou Zun can't trust "Xiang's village man". Not only Xiang Ba can't trust Dou Zun, he can't even trust his old friends.
Even now, except for the four thousand Dou clan disciples, he doesn't believe anyone.
He would never let go of the command of the Great Tunnel Pass at this critical juncture. Even if he was criticized for having evil intentions, he would still be in charge of the Great Tunnel Pass and would not go anywhere else.
“How many ‘circle divisions’ are there now?”
Suddenly, Douzun asked about the status of the garrison in Yingdu. It was true that Xiang Ba was an old loser, but an army was an army. After all, it was a war machine that could kill people.
In Douzun's opinion, at this moment, Li Jie's army is approaching the border, and the quality of Chu's troops is not as good as the opponent's, so they can only fight with quantity and consume the Wu people here.
The entire rear area now seems to be quite safe, and the number of garrison troops naturally does not need to be too large.
"A total of one army."
"Well...it seems that Xiang Ba is loyal."
The garrison consists of 2,500 men. It is usually not full and only operates at full strength in emergencies.
Under normal circumstances, one-tenth is usually compiled. If the investigation is a little stricter, it may be half, that is, more than a thousand people.
The composition of the entire Yingdu garrison is very complex. In addition to the "circular divisions", there are also troops guarding the city gates, city walls, palace gates, and palace walls. This troop is the internal guard, and its quality is far superior to that of the garrison.
, the equipment is also the most luxurious.
The highest officer of this army is the "Men Yin". Those who can serve as Men Yin are all loyal minions of the royal family and must have rich combat experience.
When Douzun was young, he was a doctor and also served as Men Yin's deputy. Because of this, he believed that Xiang Ba was loyal in supporting the national war and supporting the front line.
In wartime situations, the "Huan Lie Division" obviously needs to reduce its personnel and establishment, allowing the "men" to play a greater role and take on more tasks. If the Huan Lie Division cuts back on food and clothing, then more resources can be used.
Deployed to the front line.
Douzun believes that this is where Xiang Ba's loyalty lies.
"If the 'Huan Lie Army' is almost depleted, if there is a change, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist. Duke Danyang, can you tell Yingdu to expand another army?"
"No, it's not necessary for me to give you advice on this occasion. Xiang Ba is not a military expert, and there is no difference between more or less thousands of people. Furthermore, generals outside the country will definitely attract criticism if they involve China."
One more thing is worse than one less thing, not to mention that Yingdu is very safe now. Adding extraneous problems will have no other good consequences except making people wonder if something happened up and down the tunnel.
Dou Zun stayed at the Great Tunnel Pass and withstood Li Jie's attack. In the eyes of the ministers in Yingdu, this was the best.
In fact, the current situation of the Chu army is very unstable. Even if there are no veteran military leaders like Douzun moving around, due to the hot weather and clouds of war, the Chu army has been roaring and even roaring in many places in recent nights.
Mutiny.
There were no casualties among senior officers, but there were many casualties among middle- and lower-level officers and veteran soldiers.
It's just that Yingdu suppressed the news, so that the outside world didn't know that the camp roar and mutiny had actually occurred.
If the news really spreads and causes a chain reaction, no one can bear such consequences.
It is indeed best for Dou Zun to stay where he is without causing any trouble.
But even if Dou Zun didn't mess up, the Wu troops in a tight formation outside the Great Tunnel Pass would still arrive in front of them.
The soldiers under Dou Zun could not find any chance to attack, and the troops commanded by Li Jie were as difficult to chew as a tortoise as always.
The engineering troops quickly built a camp. Even though Douzun had ordered people to fortify the walls and clear the fields near the Dabie Mountains, and even set fire to the mountains in the south, the Wu people still quickly dug trenches.
A large number of woven bags were loaded with earth and stones, and a defensive wall was built on the spot. The alternating woven bags were like building blocks, extending continuously.
Moreover, there is a trench in front of it. Even if the Chu army wants to harass, it will be useless to place many chariots in front.
What's more, Chu's troops have the courage to come out to cause destruction, but their mobility is completely lacking.
The tolerance of the mule exceeded Shang Wuji's imagination. When the horse could no longer continue to carry the load, the mule was able to continue driving for a while after replenishing water and pooping.
What shocked Shang Wuji even more was that the total consumption of mules in a day was not much higher than that of horses, it was basically the same.
"Wu Man's construction is indeed extraordinary. Alas..."
Climbing up the hillside and looking from a distance, the Wu troops were focused on digging holes and building houses, and they also looked like they were going to fight a protracted war.
But Dou Zun knew that the real Wu people might fight against him, but Li Jie would not. Even if Li Jie had the strength to fight a war of attrition, he would not fight against him.
"Mr. Danyang, I thought that I could ask for help from the emperor and mobilize the people to strengthen the passes."
"Well……"
Dou Zun brushed his beard and nodded. Li Jie's large troops are now coming in a steady stream. The transportation team is very long. Troops were sent to harass them before, but the effect was very poor.
This time the Wu troops came out, as long as they were combatants, everyone was carrying a bow and arrow, which was very abnormal.
For any team that goes for a sneak attack, basically as soon as they show up, the Wu people will not talk nonsense to you, and all the combatants will bend their bows and shoot arrows.
Let's talk after one round of shooting. After the shooting is over, look at the behavior of Douzun's subordinates. If you continue to fight with your spear, go on your way if you stay away.
There is no advantage in mobility, and there is no difference in long-range weapons. Dou Zun knows that Li Jie is trying to wear a turtle shell, but he has no good solution.
I watched helplessly as the trench grew longer and more complicated, like a spider web heading towards the big tunnel.
Even the Wu people's earthen walls have begun to be built along the mountain, an unheard-of operation.
This is not a fight, this is clearly children's play house.
However, Douzun did not have the ability to counter fortifications. He was originally on the defensive side. Before the rise of Wu, the Great Tunnel Pass was only a bridgehead for the attack.
It wasn't until Gouchen, the old monster, defeated Chu's main force in one breath that the Great Tunnel Pass was transformed from an ordinary pass into a seven-level pass.
"Wu Man's fighting method is not good for our army. Go to Shangbo quickly to ask for help!"
"Hi!"
To deal with the Turtle Formation, Douzun decided to also pile up manpower and build fortifications.
If you build a low wall, I will build a high platform. From a high position, I can shoot you to death.
Douzun's requirements are not high. As long as Li Jie's large army is left here, it will be considered a success. As for whether Li Jie divided his troops into Baiju, he is not the chief general and the operation of the three armies has nothing to do with him.
And not surprisingly, Douzun believed that the main force of the three armies, whose operations were no different from his, should also rely on Baiju City to build a large number of defensive positions to block the Wu troops in the Dabie Mountains.
Regardless of whether it is effective or not, the advantages of local operations can definitely be brought into play.
If the Wu people can still defeat the Chu troops, Dou Zun will admit it, but unless the Wu people can fly over the Dabie Mountains, they will have to fight here.
After grinding until the autumn harvest, at least one of Li Jie's myths that "every attack must be conquered" can be broken.
"Without further delay, quickly go to Shangbo to ask for help!"
"Hi!"
After watching the engineering operations of Wu State, Douzun was convinced that a life-and-death battle in the field was not what he wanted in the first place.
The four thousand Dou clan children at Datun Pass are the essence of the family. How could they be wasted on fighting each other in the field for no reason?
Holding the position, Dou Zun didn't believe it. Li Jie's troops had three heads and six arms?
Outside the Great Tunnel Pass, the Chu State's small fortress outside was broken. The evacuated Chu State troops all entered the inside of the Great Tunnel Pass, as if they were determined to defend it.
The terrain in the northwest section of the Dabie Mountains is very fragmented. Although civil engineering work is possible, there is not much room for improvement. It has to be changed according to the direction of the mountain.
The mixing of mountains, rocks, and civil engineering caused a great loss of tools, but Shang Wuji was not worried about these losses at all. For this battle, the shogunate saved so many tools just for consumption.
Raising troops for a thousand days and using them for a while, accumulating so much inventory just for the fun of using it now!
"Report!"
"speak."
"It is suspected that the gatekeeper of the large tunnel, Douzun, is leading his troops to investigate."
"Where are people now?"
"Left."
"How long will you stay?"
"About two moments."
"Well……"
Shang Wuji pondered for a moment, and then said, "Keep an eye on the changes in the tunnel and explore again!"
"yes!"
Seeing that Douzun was still at the Great Tunnel Pass, Shang Wuji suddenly smiled. He estimated that the three armies of the Chu State had nothing to do with Douzun.
Otherwise, Douzun should not still be here, but would send more troops to prevent him from building fortifications.
This is a good sign. If the defense strength of Datun Pass is further strengthened next, it means that all the large troops of the Chu State have been transferred to the Dabie Mountains, and it may even be a very wide area.
"It just depends on these few days."
Shang Wuji's heart couldn't help but beat violently. Chu's large army had been attracted. Whether the brother-in-law's boss could attack the central government of Chu in a big move depends on the next few days.