As Yuan Wei and others were deported to Chang'an, the Wei Tang Hui strongholds in various places in Guanzhong were removed one by one, and the liquidation of the Wei Tang Hui began in an all-round way. The first step was to completely wipe out the Wei Tang Hui's old nest.
Guo Song could no longer wait for the beginning of spring before heading to Yunzhou to annihilate the enemy. The situation was changing rapidly. He was worried that the news of Yuanwei's arrest had already reached Yunzhou and it would be too late to wait until the beginning of spring. He immediately ordered Pei Xin to lead an elite army of 10,000 and
With the cooperation of a thousand internal guards, the army rode camels northward, and at the same time brought 10,000 camels to transport grain and grass supplies. They all went to Yunzhou in a mighty manner.
The reason why the army rode camels north was because the snow in the north was so heavy that it was impossible to walk on horseback, but they could barely march on camels.
The army did not go east of Hetao, but went directly north from Luochuan Road, passed through Yanzhou, Suizhou, Yinzhou, Shengzhou, arrived at Hebin County on the edge of the Hetao, and then crossed the frozen Yellow River from Hebin County and along the purple
The river enters Yunzhou, a journey of two thousand miles, which takes at least twenty days, and it takes late January to reach Yunzhou.
Zhou Fei once again served as the vanguard of the scouts. He led 300 scouts who also rode camels. On January 20, Zhou Fei led the scouts across the frozen Yellow River and arrived at the east bank of the Yellow River.
At this time, there is already a hint of warmth in the Guanzhong Plain and the Central Plains area. It is expected to be cold in spring, and early spring has quietly arrived.
But the Hetao and Yunzhou areas were still a snowy world. The weather was extremely cold, and the deepest snow was up to four feet. They walked along the north bank of the Zihe River. Not far from the south bank of the Zihe River was the Great Wall built by the Sui Dynasty. The mountains were built
On the hill, it stretches into the distance.
To the north is the endless snowfield, and the wind is very strong. Apart from the vast snowfield, there is no other house in sight.
They were riding on tall camels, wearing white cloaks to protect them from the wind, hats on their heads, and thick cotton robes. Their feet were hidden in the thick camel hair, and their hands were also wearing thick gloves.
In the howling cold wind, deputy general Wang Shao caught up with Zhou Fei and shouted: "General, it's getting dark, find a place to spend the night!"
Zhou Fei looked around, pointed at a dark shadow more than ten miles away and said, "There might be woods over there, let's go take a look!"
It was finally dark, and they approached the woods, but unexpectedly found a flash of fire in the woods. "General, it seems there is someone in the woods!"
Of course there won't be any enemies here. They are probably hunters or herb collectors. Zhou Fei ordered: "Go and have a look!"
Wang Shao led a dozen soldiers and drove the camels toward the woods. Zhou Fei led everyone to follow. Not long after, a soldier came out of the woods and said: "General, there are a dozen gold diggers from Yulin County."
Came here."
Zhou Fei nodded and ordered everyone to go into the woods to rest. Everyone jumped off the camels and led the camels into the woods. The woods were actually very big, filled with pine trees, covering an area of dozens of acres, with a small lake in the middle.
The gold diggers lit a bonfire beside the lake.
The soldiers were starving, so they broke open the ice to get water and buried pots to cook. They had camp stoves and briquettes for ignition. It was very easy to make a fire to cook, but cooking alone was not enough. They collected a large number of trees and lit a dozen piles.
In the bonfire, the wood was set up to roast the lamb. The camels ate the fodder and rested in the woods. The wind was gentle in the woods and there was not much snow, so it was more comfortable for the camels.
Zhou Fei spread a sheepskin in front of a bonfire and sat down. At this time, deputy general Wang Shao brought two gold digger leaders up. They were two old men about sixty years old. They did not expect to encounter an army.
Trembling with fear.
"The villains Li Kuang and Wang Jun meet the general!" The two old men knelt down and saluted.
"You two gentlemen, you're welcome, please sit down!"
Zhou Fei asked the old man to sit down and asked his men to pour a cup of freshly brewed hot milk tea.
The two couldn't shirk it, so they had to catch the copper cup. They looked at the copper cup with curiosity. It was a very large copper cup, weighing one or two pounds. Every soldier had one. It was both their food bowl and their drink.
Water cup.
"It's still winter, can we find gold?" Zhou Fei asked with a smile.
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One of the old men laughed and said: "The general doesn't know. It's the dry season now. Most of the river bed of the Zihe River is exposed. Only a small part of the river water in the middle of the river bed is frozen. If you search carefully on the river bed, you can find some rice-sized icebergs.
Gold particles, if you are lucky, you can also pick up small gold bumps. After the water rises in spring, there is no hope, and you can only wait until autumn and winter to come back."
"Where do you come from?"
"We are from Yulin County, and there are also gold diggers from Hebin County. Basically, people from these two places come to pan for gold. Autumn is the most common, and winter is less. This winter, there are only three teams, and we are one of them."
"How was the harvest?" Zhou Fei asked with a smile again.
The two old men shook their heads at the same time, and one said: "The harvest is not big, it is just a little better than farming. There used to be many people panning for gold, but now there are fewer and fewer people. If you have time to pan for a whole winter, you won't even be able to earn back the cost of food."
."
Zhou Fei knew that they were unwilling to reveal their wealth, so he didn't ask any more questions. He asked again: "You are panning for gold in Zihe. Can you make it to Yunzhou in such a snowy weather?"
The old man shook his head and said, "Only this small section of the mountain pass can be walked. If you go further inside, the heavy snow will completely seal it. We can't get through. You should be able to get over by riding camels."
"There is a valley in Zihe where many soldiers are stationed. Do you know?"
The two old men looked at each other and said in unison: "Pilong Valley!"
Zhou Fei perked up and asked quickly: "What do you all know?"
"General, all the gold diggers know that this Bilong Valley is home to a large number of people of unknown origins. We never dared to go in. In the past, several young people ran in to check the situation without knowing the heights of the world, but no results came out."
Zhou Fei took out a map and spread it on the big stone, and said with a smile: "Take a look, old man, is this map correct?"
Two old men came forward to take a closer look. The soldiers lit torches to illuminate them. One of them said: "From the mouth of the river, you can see the entrance to the valley after walking about seventy miles. The location on the map is correct."
Another old man pointed at the valley and said: "This valley road is too short. From the entrance of the valley, you have to walk at least twenty miles to Bilong Valley. Also, there is a sentry tower here, which is not marked on the map."
"Where is the sentry tower?" Zhou Fei asked quickly.
"It should be here, halfway up the mountain on the left."
The old man pointed to a place and said: "When I walked here last year, an arrow was shot from above. I was so scared that I ran away. I don't know if I go further inside, but it should be the mouth of Bilong Valley over there."
Zhou Fei marked the sentry tower and asked with a smile: "Can the old man be our guide? I will pay thirty taels of silver."
When he heard that the other party offered thirty taels of silver, the old man's heart suddenly pounded. He nodded and said, "They are all my own troops. I am very willing to serve!"
...........
Early the next morning, the scouts set out again. This time with a guide, it was much easier for them. After walking for dozens of miles, they entered the mountainous area. The widest part of the valley was more than ten miles long, and the narrowest part was only more than twenty feet long.
There are mountains one after another on the side, and the Zihe River flows through the valley. These mountains are not connected, leaving countless canyons hidden inside.
At noon, the old guide pointed to a large pine tree twenty feet high in front of him and said to Zhou Fei: "General, when you see that pine tree, you will reach the entrance of Bilong Valley."
Zhou Fei was not worried that there would be enemy sentries here. The place was covered with waist-deep snow, and the road was completely blocked by the heavy snow. Even horses could not go there, only camels could go there.
The team walked past the big tree, and a valley entrance appeared in front of them. It was about a hundred feet wide and had high mountains on both sides. This was just the valley road to Bilong Valley. From here, you still have to walk twenty miles to reach Bilong Valley.
Formal entrance.
However, human traces can already be seen here. A wooden pavilion was built at the entrance and was covered with snow.
"General, do you want to go in now?" Deputy General Wang Shao asked in a low voice.
Zhou Fei shook his head, "We will alert the enemy when we go in, and we will wait until General Pei and the others arrive!"
Zhou Fei immediately ordered a U-turn and found a canyon on the other side of the river one mile north of the entrance. The canyon was very deep. He found a snow-free flat land two miles inside and temporarily stationed here.
Zhou Fei sent three more troops. He ordered two soldiers with the best light skills to go into the enemy's valley to investigate, in order to discover the enemy's sentry tower.
He also ordered several soldiers to stand guard at the mouth of the valley, and then sent a group of soldiers to follow the guide to the Yellow River to meet the main force of the army.
Before dawn the next day, two soldiers who went to explore the road came back. Zhou Fei quickly asked them.
"Have you found any enemy sentry towers? How many are there?"
"General Qi, we found two sentry towers, but one was abandoned. There is only one left, which is the sentry tower the guide mentioned. It is on the mountainside, more than thirty feet above the ground. The sentry tower is not big.
It can accommodate up to five or six people.”
"What signal did they use to notify the people in Pilong?" Zhou Fei asked again.
"It should be using beacon smoke. There are several large pots on the top of the sentry tower."
"What else did you see?"
A scout said: "We did not enter Bilong Valley, but we could see the bonfires in the valley from a distance, about seven or eight miles away from the mouth of the valley. Bilong Valley is very wide, with a radius of more than a hundred miles, just like a pasture.