The goose-feathered snow filled the whole world with the howling north wind, and it took only one night to dye both sides of the Yellow River a pure white. As the temperature fell again with the heavy snowfall, a thin layer of ice had formed in the slippery areas a little further from the water.

The power of nature is so great and unpredictable, no matter how you have planned before, but in such a harsh climate, you can only stop the war, and wait for this sudden snowstorm to pass before thinking of other ways.

The morale of the thieves has not been affected by this snowstorm, on the one hand, because their military food supply is still quite sufficient, and they have obtained enough grain and grass for several months by sweeping the entire territory of Hebei before, and on the other hand, the generals who have come down from Sun Tu have already spread the fact that they are not afraid of delay to the army below, so that the soldiers are more confident, and the temporary strike has given the soldiers more opportunities to rest and breathe.

It's just that this heavy snow lasted for three days and nights, and the temperature was even lower to the lowest point in several years, which made the soldiers somewhat unbearable. Seeing this, at noon on the 22nd, Song Jiang asked to see Sun Tu and put forward a view: "General, since you can't move the army for the time being, why don't you withdraw the army to the rear city to rest first?" This also saves the soldiers from suffering here. ”

He has some truth in what he said, and in the past few days, there have been many frostbite accidents in the army. Even if Sun Tu was wary early on, in such bad weather, the life of ordinary soldiers was still not easy, and even with the passage of time, the number of bonfires used for heating at night was drastically reduced, and if it continued like this, I was afraid that there would be a large number of casualties.

But Sun Tu immediately denied his strategy: "No, if you retreat at this time, our army's morale will inevitably be frustrated, even if it comes back after the snow, it will not be possible to achieve today's results." Moreover, do you think that we are the only ones who are suffering, and the defenders on the other side will be more comfortable? If my guess is correct, they will only have a harder time than us if they are less prepared, and once we retreat, they will also give them the opportunity to retreat, so we must not retreat. ”

"But in this way, the soldiers' bodies are ......," Song Jiang said with a worried face.

Sun Tu hardened his heart: "For the sake of the handsome, for the sake of the overall situation, sometimes only some people can be sacrificed." Besides, I always thought that maybe the opportunity for us to cross the river would soon arise, so I held on for a few more days. After a pause, he said: "Pass the order, from today onwards, from now on, all the generals can only have one bonfire in their tents to keep warm, and the rest of the firewood will be distributed to ordinary soldiers." ”

Song Jiang glanced at Sun Tu thoughtfully, but he didn't object anymore, so he hurriedly went out of the account to issue this new military order. As soon as Sun Tu's military order came out, it really boosted the morale of the army, which was already a little low, and when they watched the dry firewood in the generals' tents being moved out and sent to their small tents, especially after General Sun's dry firewood was moved out, the little resentment in everyone's hearts was completely dispersed.

In fact, this team that has been fighting for many years and is united is never afraid of hardship, as long as the generals above can treat everyone equally, it is enough for them to really support it. And now, with Sun Tu, the coach, leading by example, everyone is even more certain in their hearts, and they are more and more convinced that it will not be long before they can achieve the final victory and kill the surging Yellow River.

Two more days passed, and in the early morning of the 25th, the heavy snow finally stopped the night before, and the sun that had not been seen for a long time appeared. But before everyone could get happy, the bigger problem came again, the weather did not get warmer as the wind and snow stopped, but became colder and colder.

There is an old folk saying, called snow is not cold and snow melts, and when the snow days are cold, once the sun melts the snow, the temperature will drop again, even if it is noon, in the military tent, people can freeze and shiver.

Even Sun Tu's physique also felt chills all over his body at this time. Because his military tent is so big, there is only one bonfire now, and there is no way to make the temperature in the tent rise, but it is much colder than the military tent of ordinary soldiers.

However, at this time, his attention was no longer here, and after putting down a military book, his ears suddenly stiffened, and after listening carefully to the movement outside, he shouted: "Someone! ”

Although the few soldiers guarding outside the tent were a little frozen, they still quickly brought colder air outside into the tent: "General! ”

"Do you hear anything different from the outside?" Sun Tu said, and had already gotten up and walked towards the tent door. The pro-soldier was stunned, and shook his head blankly: "I don't know ...... little one."

"Listen carefully, if there is any movement compared to before." Sun Tu opened the curtain and listened carefully, the smile on his face became more and more prosperous, and the opportunity he was waiting for really came.

Just when the pro-soldier was still at a loss, Dong Ping, Song Jiang and other generals had rushed over: "General, good news, there is a quasi-letter from the river, the river in front of you is slowing down rapidly, and the river near the bank has many signs of freezing, our chance has arrived!" Excited, they didn't care about being outside the tent, and as soon as they saw Sun Tu, they hurriedly said loudly.

After hearing this, the pro-soldier understood, yes, at this time, the rushing sound of the Yellow River, which could be heard every day, was so small that he couldn't hear it without listening to it, which made him also excited, once the river was cut off, it would be much easier to kill the south bank.

Sun Tu smiled even more at this time: "Okay, it's not in vain that I have been waiting on the bank of the river, the opportunity I said before, isn't this coming?" ”

"The general's foresight, I admire it." Everyone immediately clasped their fists and said. Before, when Sun Tu said that they wanted to wait for an opportunity here, they still had doubts, but now the answer is finally revealed.

"Then when will we send troops to cross the river again?" Yang Zhi asked with a look of gearing up.

"Don't worry, let's go to the river and have a look." Sun Tu smiled, raised his steps and walked forward again. Half an hour later, they had come to the bank of the Yellow River, watching the river that used to flow quietly like a stream today, and everyone's eyes continued to flash with joy.

After Sun Tu watched for a while, he took a stone at his feet and threw it hard at the icy place in front of him. With a thud, the stone smashed a small crater in the ice, then bounced and rolled into the river farther ahead, disappearing. And after seeing this scene, Sun Tu's eyes lit up even more, and the situation was far more favorable than he thought.

"General, compared to before, the current flow of the Yellow River has slowed down too much, maybe with just one impact, our ships will be able to reach the south bank smoothly." Song Jiang said again: "In the past, we were repeatedly blocked by them because of the defeat in the water war, but now it is different. ”

"Yes, General, the opportunity is rare, why don't you send troops as soon as possible? I thought tonight was the perfect opportunity, and they would not have thought that we would dare to force our way across the river at night. Dong Ping also put forward his own opinions with bright eyes.

But Sun Tu still shook his head: "Don't worry, you say, will this river continue to freeze until the entire river surface is frozen?" ”

Everyone finally understood what Sun Tu meant, and their faces changed one by one: "This, this is a little too difficult, right?" It is said that the water of the Yellow River has not frozen once in ten years, so will there really be such a miracle this year? ”

"It's hard to say, it's really cold this year, isn't it?" Sun Tu's eyes suddenly looked into the distance, but he found that there were also people and horses flashing on the other bank, obviously Uncle Zhang also came to check the situation after knowing that the river was frozen.

At this moment, the commanders of the two armies actually looked at each other across the shore and seemed to look at each other deeply. Although he couldn't see the other party's appearance, Sun Tu could guess that Zhang Shuye must be very anxious and panicked at this time.

This is exactly the case, Uncle Zhang's face at this time was already wrinkled into a ball of sorrow, staring at the slower and slower river in front of him, and there were words in his mouth: "How can this be?" Could it be that even God is on the side of those rebels, and they really want to trap the court in a desperate situation? ”

In the past few days, Uncle Zhang, who was originally extraordinary, has completely seemed to be a different person, not only his face is haggard, his eyes are bloodshot, his hair is half white, and he looks more than ten years old all of a sudden. It's really too much pressure, and the situation in front of him is too dangerous - the other side is a rebellious army eyeing the enemy, and the court in the rear has not sent military rations because of food shortages, and now the army is about to run out of food. Now that there is such a thing again, the Yellow River, which is about to be cut off, is almost about to become the last straw that crushes him.

In stark contrast to his panic and helplessness, Sun Tu's face was red from excitement: "See? The ice of the river is so solid that this is just the beginning. In a day or two, I believe that the water of the Yellow River will inevitably freeze here. At that time, not to mention the foot soldiers, even the horses will be able to rush over the ice. Once we can really cross the Yellow River on foot, how can the soldiers and horses on the other side of the river be able to stop our offensive? ”

The generals were also excited at this time, if there was such a result, it would indeed be what everyone wanted to see the most. After all, most of the army is landlubbers, and it is always the best choice not to take a boat, not to mention that it only takes two more days, compared to the harvest, this delay is not a problem at all.

When his subordinates agreed in unison, Sun Tu said loudly: "Also, pass on my order to move all the war drums in our army to the river, and only wait until the time is to beat the drums and cheer." In this battle, I will not only win, but also defeat the defenders on the other side in a devastating way, so that the soldiers and horses of the court in the rear will no longer dare to block my way! When he said this, Sun Tu's eyes flashed with flames, and he believed that he was only one step away from victory.