It's April, and the grass and trees are thriving. Located on the north bank of the Sanggan River, the location on the left side of the province is not too far to the north, and it is a typical climate with four distinct seasons. Moreover, the terrain here is not a flat place, but a place of hills and hills. This kind of terrain is the most troublesome, because even if you climb to the top of a hill, you can only see a few miles in a radius, and you can't even look closely at the situation in a few miles. Lush forests everywhere and rolling hills everywhere make your view completely blocked.

Soldiers and horses travel through such terrain, even if they are only a few hundred steps apart, but there are hills and trees to block them, and you don't even know the existence of the other party. You won't see your enemies appear in front of you until you turn around at the same time and face each other. The lush trees absorb a lot of noise. The horses' hooves were almost silent on the mountain grass path, so they couldn't find each other at all.

Lin Jue and the others had to lurk under a hill to confirm their safety before they could move, because in this case, the danger of encountering the enemy was unpredictable. Facts have proved that the prudence of Lin Jue and others is necessary. For a few hours lurking among the trees, several troops of soldiers and horses galloped along the narrow path on the side of the hill. It was only a hundred steps with Lin Jue and the others who were lurking between the trees. Several times, everyone couldn't hold back and wanted to ambush, but Lin Jue resolutely stopped them. Of course, an ambush on this terrain can be successful, but in this way, it is tantamount to exposing his whereabouts, and Lin Jue will never do this. Lin Jue had to wait patiently for these soldiers and horses to leave in a hurry, and then quietly followed, approaching the center from behind to find out the situation.

It wasn't until noon that there had been no soldiers or horses passing by for half an hour, and Lin Jue ordered scouts to be sent to investigate. After making sure that there were no more soldiers and horses passing by, Lin Jue ordered everyone to follow the walking path of a group of soldiers and horses to the west. Lin Jue believed that at this moment, their position should be in the rear of the Liao army's gathering of troops and horses, and this was convenient for Lin Jue to grasp the other party's plan and judge whether these people were going to set up an ambush in the mountains or directly reinforce Xijin Mansion.

The spring sun is shining, and the four wild flowers and trees are flourishing. The warm wind blows people warmly, walking between the mountains and fields, it seems that there is a rich aroma and the fragrance of green leaves and flowers flowing in the air. This is a pleasant season to hike, and walking among such mountains and wilderness will make people feel relaxed and soothed. However, for Lin Jue, the tension and depression in their hearts made them completely ignore the beautiful scenery of spring in the mountains.

"It's already afternoon, Yang Jun is afraid that he has already started to cross the river." Lin Jue looked at the sun above his head and thought in his heart.

……

As Lin Jue thought, a large-scale river crossing operation is being carried out at the crossing of the Sanggan River Gorge. Yang Jun's army set out in the morning and arrived at the ferry at noon. Bai Qi and the others, who controlled the ferry in advance, were already ready to cross the river.

Nearly 300,000 soldiers and horses, thousands of vehicles and horses, materials, cloud cars, catapults and other heavy siege equipment to cross the river was by no means an easy task. What's more, it is impossible for the Liao army on the opposite side not to organize a counterattack to prevent the army from landing on the shore. So, crossing the river is not just a matter of words.

However, Yang Jun had already planned about this, and the three months of preparation were not in vain. Since the target was directly aimed at Xijin Prefecture and even the hinterland of the Liao State, it was impossible not to consider the way to cross such a large river as the Sanggan River in advance. To this end, Yang Jun set up an engineer battalion composed of tens of thousands of people, and the main responsibility of this engineer battalion is to open roads and build bridges when encountering water in the mountains, repair vehicles along the way, and repair siege equipment in time during wartime.

For crossing a big river like the Sanggan River, Yang Jun had already obtained a way to cross the river from the engineer battalion. The reason why Yang Jun was not in a hurry to seize the ferry was that he hoped to be able to observe the enemy's movements and judge whether they had set up a large-scale ambush on the opposite bank. Another major reason is that Yang Jun doesn't actually need the boats at the ferry. Those dozen or so big boats and dozens of small boats were actually of little use to Yang Jun's entire army crossing the river. Those ships could carry more than 1,000 men and horses at a time, and it took dozens of trips back and forth to transport all the soldiers and horses across the river. This is undoubtedly not operational. If the other side is well defended, this way of crossing the river is tantamount to suicide. Moreover, soldiers and horses can cross the river, and what should be done with the siege equipment such as heavy and huge cloud cars, catapults, siege vehicles, and fire oil vehicles? How do a large number of grain, grass, and baggage vehicles cross the river? So, obviously, it was clear that the Grand Army could not cross the river in such a way. Unless there are a large number of ships, and there are large ships of the kind that can carry heavy equipment, it will be feasible. However, it is impossible for the army to drag the warships of the Great Zhou Navy to come, and it is even more impossible to build a large ship on the spot.

Therefore, there is only one way to allow the army to cross the river smoothly and quickly, and to quickly occupy the north bank without fear of the resistance of the other side, and that is to build a bridge.

Of course, it's not about building a bridge across the two sides of the strait, that's not feasible, and it's not capable. What is to be built is a pontoon bridge. The use of pontoon bridges is more common in the military, but this pontoon bridge must be both wide and large, stable and wide, so that soldiers and horses can walk on the ground and vehicles loaded with materials and equipment can pass smoothly.

The plan of the engineer battalion was to build a huge pontoon bridge two feet wide and suspended over the river. The materials used to build the bridge had already been shipped with the army, and it was nearly 280 carts loaded with logs the thickness of sea bowls. Each log is nailed with a noose chain, which can be twisted and fixed to each other. The way it was built was also simple and easy to understand, with two rows of logs hinged to the opposite bank, and the rear was firmly anchored with thick planks and spikes.

Of course, this way of building a pontoon bridge must be aided, because the river is turbulent and the pontoon bridge will drift with the waves when it is built. Therefore, in order to fix the pontoon, it is necessary to have anchoring measures. The way of piling is no longer available, because the water is fast and the river is deep, and it is simply not operational. But there is another simple and easy way to replace it, and that is anchoring. The pig iron ingots and giant bluestone transported with the army are the most ideal anchoring devices, adjust the weight and number according to the urgency of the water flow, and fix the anchor points of these bluestones and iron ingots with anchor chains at both ends of the logs, and after being put into the water, they can greatly offset the impact of the flowing water, so that the whole pontoon bridge can be extended forward in a relatively stable way.

Therefore, the wisdom of man is still infinite, and the large-scale construction of pontoon bridges that began in this way is progressing smoothly. If you advance twenty paces every half hour, by evening the whole pontoon bridge will be connected to the opposite shore. And after the pontoon bridge is built, people and horses walking on it are no different from the ground except for some slight shaking.

With the smooth progress of the pontoon, the soldiers were in a good mood. Some people optimistically estimate that by the time of the application, the pontoon bridge will be completed. But Yang Jun knows that things may not be so simple. Although the pontoon bridge construction in the first half was smooth, the closer to the north bank ferry in the second half became, the more difficult it became. The other side cannot remain indifferent and will inevitably obstruct the construction of the pontoon bridge in every possible way.

In fact, the other party has already made a move. The boats on the opposite side of the ferry are all scattered on the river, and they are all concentrated upstream, which makes people feel a hint of conspiracy. Moreover, the soldiers and horses on the cliffs on the opposite bank are also dispatching back and forth. Yang Jun had reason to believe that there were already thousands of archers up and down the cliff who were preparing to release their arrows. It is already a very dangerous thing to build a pontoon bridge on a dangerous river, and once you enter the range of bows and arrows, a dense rain of arrows flies overhead, and not a single sapper who builds the bridge will survive.

When the pontoon bridge was more than halfway through the construction and there were still about 300 steps away from the opposite bank, Yang Jun stopped the bridge-building operation. Although it was still early, Yang Jun didn't see the need to take the risk. After dark, it is not good for your own soldiers and horses, and it is impossible to discredit the crossing of the river, which will increase unnecessary risks. In that case, the pontoon bridge should not continue to be built, and then it should be built again tomorrow, and then quickly charge across the river and fight the enemy.

In order to protect the long pontoon bridge that has been built in Lixu, in case the Liao people sneak attack and destroy. That night, nearly 5,000 men were placed on the pontoon bridge. It's like guarding a section of the water wall to prevent the other side from destroying it. Because Yang Jun always felt that there was an attempt for dozens of other boats scattered on the river, it stands to reason that they should be blocking them on the shore. Until it got dark, the boats were still cruising up and down the upper reaches of the river, clearly trying to do something.

However, Yang Jun is not very worried. The pontoon bridge is impassable, and the soldiers and horses on the other side cannot pose a threat to the unfinished pontoon bridge. So, just by relying on the more than 1,000 Liao troops on dozens of large and small ships, how much can be done? He sent almost five thousand people to guard the pontoon bridge, and they simply could not form damage to the pontoon.

That night, Yang Jun slept soundly. Yang Jun hadn't slept so peacefully for a long time, and although he was in a high position in the court, Yang Jun rarely slept peacefully. Because he can't completely control the affairs above the court, he can't be completely at ease. But when he arrived on the battlefield, when everything was under control, Yang Jun could eat and sleep without distractions.

However, in the middle of the night, he was woken up by the panicked shouts of the guards.

"My lord, my lord, it's not good, something happened to the pontoon."

Yang Jun sat up in shock and asked loudly, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? ”

"You...... See for yourself, it's all ruined...... It's all ruined......" The guard's voice carried a great deal of frustration and horror.

Yang Jun immediately got up and dressed and rushed outside, and there was already a lot of people outside. Bai Qi was galloping towards with a dozen generals.

"Marshal Yang, it's over, it's over. The bridge is ruined! Bai Qi said loudly in frustration.

Yang Jun's heart was cold, these words came out of Bai Qi's mouth, I am afraid that it is true. At that moment, he quickly rushed to the direction of the ferry with everyone, and when he came to the open place, Yang Jun saw the fire rushing to the sky on the river, and at that moment, Yang Jun suddenly realized that he had made a huge mistake.