In winter, the snow forest is a little more chilly in the early morning, and the distant and undulating mountains in the distance only show some vague lines in the mist, and it is very ethereal and hazy in the distance. Out of nowhere, a few pack horses with long manes and short legs panted and walked impatiently on the slopes of the mountains or among the trees in the mud and snow, waving their dirty long tails and bowing their heads in the fields greedily searching and gnawing on the grass roots. After crossing the mountains for so long, they still walked on the snow, and even though they were rough and thick-skinned and accustomed to dangerous roads, they still felt a little tired. However, compared to them, the large group of men in heavy robes behind them were really exhausted.

Because they were either in groups of three or two, and they all carried a small wooden boat as high as a man on their backs.

The actual weight of the small wooden boat is not to the extent that it is overwhelming, but it is a hundred pounds. Even though they are all tough men who have been exercising for a long time and are physically strong, carrying this small wooden boat, weapons and bags on their backs in the deep and difficult vast mountains to cross the mountains and mountains, even the iron body can't stand it.

"His grandmother's, this is to kill Lao Tzu." A man with a disheveled hair shouted, because he had already hung his hood on his waist because of sweating, and as soon as his steps stopped, others could clearly see that there was constant heat steaming from the wet hair on the top of his head.

Someone passed by him, stopped when he heard the words, and persuaded: "Old Peng, don't say a few words, will it be successful?" ”

"Grandma's, Lao Tzu said what's wrong? Is there a kind of you scolding Lao Tzu to death? The man with the hair looked impatient, and his triangular eyes stared.

was an ordinary provocative word, but the person opposite choked speechless. Wei Yiqu, a famous stammerer in Zhao Ying, is now suffering and angry, and he knows that under his emotional agitation, this stuttering problem will be worse. Therefore, he would rather pinch his head and silently endure the other party's provocation, but he did not speak directly in a hurry, causing greater embarrassment.

As the former commander of the left battalion of the first army, Wei Yiqu was beside him, but few people dared to laugh at his flaws so nakedly. Counting with his fingers, he often stammered and said that he was nothing more than Qin Jinxiao, the general manager of Zuoying, and Peng Guang, the general manager of the rear office. At present, Qin Jinxiao is still nowhere to be seen, so this sarcastic statement can only be Peng Guang.

Peng Guang, who was physically and mentally exhausted, often shook with the wind on the black mole under his left ear, but now he seemed to be in touch with his master's heart, no longer vivid, and listless against his cheeks did not move at all. Seeing that Wei Yiqu's face was blue and purple for a while, and his lips trembled but he was speechless, Peng Guang suddenly felt a little guilty, and said with a pout: "Hey, old Wei, don't take it to heart if you say it casually." ”

Wei Yiqu was used to squeezing people because of his stammering, and after listening to Peng Guang's apologetic words, he turned his face and smiled: "No, no, it's nothing." "An excited, but might as well be out of the ocean again.

Peng Guang didn't taunt Wei Yiqu anymore at this time, because his mind was not on it at the moment, Wei Yiqu looked at him looking left and right, and said, "Are you looking for Mr. Qian?" ”

"Hmm." Peng Guang agreed, then leaned his shoulders, and unloaded the small wooden boat that was behind him, and the straps of the small wooden boat were loose, and in an instant the whole thing fell into the snow and fell into a deep place.

In addition to such a big burden, Peng Guang's expression was like a relief. He lifted the hem of the cloth armor, wiped the sweat that was constantly oozing from his face, looked at the endless mountains in the distance, shook his head, and said, "When will this go!" ”

Wei Yiqu looked at him with a complicated expression, and he snorted but didn't open his mouth after all. Because of himself, he felt the constant pressure from his back, and he was also quite tired.

A few days ago, Zhao Dangshi waved his army to capture the town of Yankou in Lianggang, Yubei, and Hou Dagui and Qin Jinxiao quickly met from the direction of Suining. As a result, the total number of Zhao Ying's horse infantry troops gathered in Yankou Town was about 9,000. Among them, there are 2,000 people in the front battalion of the old army, 500 people in the left battalion of the old army, 2,000 people in the right battalion of the old army, 1,000 people in the rear battalion of the old army, 2,000 people in the left battalion of the Xianqiu army, and 1,200 cavalry in the Feijie battalion, plus 100 cavalry of the pro-support division and 200 cavalry of the special service division.

There were no official army field troops stationed in Dingyuan County in the south, and the county soldiers alone could not compete with the Zhao camp of nearly 10,000 people in Yankou Town, so in the two days that Yankou fell, Dingyuan County was as quiet as a pool of stagnant water. Of course, through the continuous reports of the Secret Service Division, Zhao Dangshi knew that the officials and gentry of Dingyuan County did not sit still, and in these two days of panic, they reported that they had sent as many as seventeen messengers to ask for help from all directions.

The numbers sound terrifying, but if these calls for help are successful, then the gathered officers and troops will definitely put great pressure on the smooth progress of Zhao Ying's next move. It's just that Zhao Dangshi, Chang Zeyu and others will never be swayed by the superficial situation. They are all people who are accustomed to seeing wind and waves, and they are already very able to think inside through the appearance. Just like this matter, according to Chang Zeyu's estimate, even if the officers and troops closest to Dingyuan County all did not hesitate to send troops to help, it would take at least four days for them to arrive in Dingyuan, and the coordination and preparation of the various units after the arrival of these officers and soldiers had not been considered. And four days has long exceeded the limit of Zhao Dangshi's tolerable stay. The matter of leaving Sichuan was very fast, and he ordered the whole army to make preparations in all aspects within three days and start moving. Among them, the vanguard even left the town and went north on the second day after capturing Yankou Town.

The vanguard was Qin Jinxiao's left battalion of the first army.

Soldiers are more important than opportunities. The so-called "machine first" is also the first strike. Before attacking Yankou Town, Zhao Dangshi thought about his actions after defeating Yankou Town.

The general direction of the action is no different from what Chang Zeyu said about going north. This is because after Hou Dagui led the army to rendezvous, Zhao Dangshi specially consulted him on the next movement of the whole army. To Zhao Dangshi's surprise, Hou Dagui actually completely agreed with Chang Zeyu on this matter, and the imaginary conflict between civil and military forces was not staged. It can also be seen from this point that Hou Dagui is certainly a very selfish person, but in major matters, whether the starting point is for Zhao Ying or for self-preservation, at least he can have an attitude of impartiality. This is his merit, and it is also an important factor for Zhao Dangshi to dare to rely on him as an arm.

Xu Hui was outside, and the remaining most important scholars and martial arts in the Zhao camp all held the same conclusion, and Zhao Dangshi himself had no better plan to put forward, so the phased policy of going north along the Jialing River was finalized.

Along the Jialing River, you will pass through many riverside prefectures and counties, the first of which is Nanchong. The night of infiltration to the north did not receive returns, saying that there were officers and soldiers in Qingju City who cut off the river.

Qingju City is located in the south of Nanchong County 30 miles, standing by the river, because it was built in the Southern Song Dynasty Chunyou period, also known as "Chunyou City". It used to be the seat of Nanchong County and Shunqing Mansion, and in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was called "Eight Pillars of Anti-Mongolia" with Diaoyu, Daliang, Yunshan and other cities. Today, although most of the old city has collapsed, but because it is located in the section of the river to choke, the river in the edge of the city because of a huge meandering section of the river to narrow the river on one side, so the officials and troops of Nanchong have recently focused on the defense here, and more or less repaired the city wall by the river, and built a few new water villages. In addition, the officers and soldiers who had taken precautions were also ingenious and set up several iron-locked bridges across the river to block the passage of ships.

I have to say that the officers and troops in Nanchong still have some foresight, especially in the matter of the iron lock Hengjiang, which completely poked at the weakness of Zhao Ying. If this nail is not pulled out in advance, it is expected that Zhao Ying, who is going up the waterway by boat, will inevitably encounter a major setback in Qingju City.

The reason why he left the large army and went north in advance was that Qin Jinxiao's mission was to remove the obstacle of Qingju City for the follow-up troops.

What Zhao Dangshi is most afraid of now is the same time as when he was in Shenshui, and his request for capturing Qingju City is only four words - a quick victory.

Zhao Ying is not accustomed to water warfare, and it is obviously difficult to achieve it if he wants to go north by boat to forcibly break through the defense line of Qingju City. Therefore, Qin Jinxiaobu walked by land. This is also the reason why Wei Yiqu, Peng Guang and others are in the reckless mountains and snow forests at this moment.

Before sending Qin Jin Xiaobu, Zhao Dangshi, Chang Zeyu, Hou Dagui, Mu Gongchun and others carefully analyzed the deployment of the official army in Qingju City according to the map and various intelligence, and finally believed that if you want to take the Qingju City defense line that is defended by the city as soon as possible and has many water villages, the waterway attack should be the most effective move. Due to the shortcomings of its own water warfare, it is impossible to face it head-on from the waterway, and can only be used as a surprise soldier, and the main force of the battle still needs to be land.

As mentioned before, it was Xu Hui's troops and Tsing Yi army who advanced from Pengxi to Shunqing Mansion. On the eve of the capture of Yankou Town, Xu Hui had sent someone to report the military situation, Chen said that at present, some soldiers and horses have entered the Nanchong territory through the main road of Chicheng Mountain, and there are still troops in Chicheng Mountain to deal with the haunted Tan Daxiao and other officers and troops.

Nanchong focused its defense on Qingju City, and there were not many officers and soldiers stationed in Nanchong, Fucheng, and there were almost no mobile troops, so entering Nanchong from Pengxi and turning south could be directly inserted into Qingju City on the west side of the Jialing River. In addition, considering that Qingju City was only in a dangerous terrain and the number of officers and troops guarding it was actually not much, Zhao Dangshi believed that it was completely feasible to let Xu Hui divide his troops and attack Qingju City from the north by land.

The land route is established, where is the water route? It goes without saying that he is Qin Jinxiao, who is now marching hard in the south of Qingju Mountain. But they were obviously taking the land route, how could they achieve the tactical goal of "attacking by land and water" with Xu Hui's troops? The small boat that everyone in Qin Jin's filial piety department carried behind him was the key to this trip to break through Qingju City.

This is the plan proposed by Mu Gongchun. If it is said that he is inferior to Chang Zeyu and Qin Qigong in terms of strategic vision and general layout, but in terms of surprise strategies, Zhao Yingshi can be said to be unsurpassed.

His idea was to send a boat carrying dry food cylinders and small boats over the mountains and forests, darkness to the upper reaches of Qingju City, and then go down the river to achieve the effect of surprise soldiers.

In essence, this plan was not a pipe dream of him, but a precedent.

In the Battle of Pingxia in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang sent the northern and southern armies to attack the "Great Xia" entrenched in central Sichuan and ruled by Ming Yuzhen and his son for two generations. Needless to say, the Northern Army took the traditional land route and entered Sichuan from Shaanxi; The southern army was led by Tang He, Liao Yongzhong and others from Huguang along the river and land and into Sichuan.

The southern army went to Qutang Pass, encountered the Xia army's iron chain bridge across the river and could not cross, Liao Yongzhong "secretly sent hundreds of people" to carry a small boat to "cross the mountain and cross the pass, out of its upper stream", and brought his own land army "The degree has arrived, and the handsome elite went out of Moyedu, and divided into two armies to attack its water and land village. Dawn, the Shu people began to feel. Attack up and down, and break it".

Mu Gongchun was well-read, and naturally had an understanding of this deed of Liao Yongzhong at the beginning of the country, and the situation of Zhao Ying at this time was the same as that of the Southern Army of the Ming Army at that time, so he naturally thought of learning from this plan according to the times. The status of the right army division is well deserved.

As soon as this plan came out, the difficulty of how to choose the waterway was easily solved, Zhao Dangshi felt that it was feasible, and others had no objections. However, after careful consideration, in order to achieve the ultimate goal, this army by water must first have the quality to carry heavy burdens and cross the dangers of high mountains and snow, and pay attention to hiding in the middle, and when it reaches the upper reaches, it must also have the experience of sneak attacks and the ability to cooperate with friendly forces. Counting the soldiers and horses stationed at the border, I still feel that this matter is not something that Qin Jin's filial piety department can't do. Therefore, Qin Jinxiao arrived in Yankou Town to rest for less than two days, and was sent out again.

However, Qin Jinxiao himself did not have any complaints. This person's willful and even somewhat naïve personality certainly caused many headaches to Zhao Dangshi in many aspects, but at the same time, it also created Qin Jinxiao's relatively simple thinking. For Qin Jinxiao, as a martial artist, leading soldiers to fight is all he has, and the horse leather shroud is his destination, as long as there is still a breath in his chest, he will never feel half afraid of fighting.

Just like now, climbing snowy mountains and crossing grasslands for nearly a day and a night, old subordinates like Peng Guang, who had been born and died with him for many years, were overwhelmed and began to complain, but Qin Jinxiao himself did not mean to be depressed at all. On the contrary, when Wei Yiqu and Peng Guang, who were gasping in the snow, saw Qin Jinxiao, he was striding with his head held high and his chest held high.

Whenever they saw Qin Jinxiao with such a red face, Wei Yiqu and Peng Guang couldn't help but grab the handle of the knife. Because they knew that it must be a sign that a fierce battle was about to begin.