1

"Why hasn't the general been prepared?"

Zhong Li was independent of the outside of the hall, his light clothes were the same as iron armor, and he couldn't withstand the wet and cool autumn wind. Seeing that he didn't seem to hear the question, Gu Yu followed his gaze and looked at the southeast sky together. Although it was afternoon, the sky was gloomy, and a row of inky clouds in the southeast seemed to be thousands of troops, and there was a faint wind and thunder as a snare drum, pressing over step by step. In comparison, the tents and watchtowers in Liucheng are like flocks of sheep surrounded by wooden fences.

"General Zhong?"

"What?" Zhong Li replied, but his gaze did not move, so that it made people feel that he had heard the first words, which made Gu Yu a little unhappy.

"The general is here to welcome the rain? The military order to set off in the middle of the night has been issued, why don't you go to rest? Didn't you regret it again? ”

"If you go to rest as you say, how do you know that I am here to welcome the rain?"

Gu Yu was laughed at for a while, "Instead, you came to ask me?" I made up for sleep early in the morning! ”

Knowing that she was probably relieved of boredom, a moment of Zhong Li said: "I'm waiting for another thing." ”

"What?"

"Together?"

"It's me who asks!" Although Gu Yu sighed, he did not move.

The two of them were speechless, and the only thing that relieved them was the cool breeze that drilled the sleeves of the people's clothes, and there was a little rain that seemed to be there. Probably this afternoon, everyone was asleep, except for the sound of the waves in the mountains, forests and grasslands being pulled by the wind, there was no other movement. Although he didn't stand very close, the tips of Gu Yu's hair still swept to Zhong Li's shoulders with the wind from time to time, and the rustling sound was very distinguishable from the swaying of the mountains and forests.

Gu Yu seemed to have something to say, but was stopped by Zhong Li.

"It's coming!"

With his eyes, Gu Yu quickly found a little white, and drew a long arc with the wind. The white dots gradually appeared, and the wings gradually fell with the rain, and the wings were close to the front of the body when they could be distinguished. Zhong Li raised his hand, and as soon as his wings fluttered, Xue'er landed on his arm.

"This is ......" Just as he was about to ask, Gu Yu caught a glimpse of a wisp of red silk. I see, but there are people who are worried about the general. ”

2

"Zhong Li, give you ......"

"What? Homing pigeon? ”

"Hmm."

"This thing needs to be trained for a while."

"It's called Xue'er, and I'm already acquainted with it."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Now they are leading all the way, and they will be out on the march in the future, and they will communicate with each other at any time."

3

In the early morning of September 22, Yuan Xian led the 15,000 Red Dragon Army under his command as the vanguard, marched northeast out of Shanhaiguan, Yuan Qizhi led the Canglong Army of 60,000 for the Chinese army, followed by the remaining 12,000 people of Zhong Li Xuanlong Army as a reserve, staying at the pass. The marching soldiers and horses stretched for dozens of miles, and the Panlong Banner Hao Hao soup fluttered in the wind.

On the same day, Zhong Li's whole army took advantage of the fact that the sky was not bright and left Liucheng, and the flag died down, and went northeast to enter Wulu Mountain at noon.

Although Yiwulu Mountain is not precipitous, the vegetation is dense, and the army needs to have a quick knife to open the way, and it cannot travel ten miles per hour. In addition, it was rainy from time to time, and after crossing the ridge, Zhong Li led the scouts to find a few open areas to rest the army, but he was dissatisfied with today's itinerary, so he took Qin Lang down the mountain to explore first.

When Zhong Li and Qin Lang returned, it was nearly half of the night, and because there was no moonlight, there were only a few fires left in the entire camp. The chirping of autumn insects and the faint snoring sounded quietly, and the tide of the mountain wind and forest sea still did not stop. Listening carefully, there seems to be singing in the mountain wind, like a mountain stream trickling continuously. Zhong Li became a character, and Qin Lang needed to follow him to find the source, but he couldn't guess who the singer was.

It's not the autumn wind to rip my clothes

Dip me Luo Ximo night rain

I don't have a lot of grass

I was still in the bush

Cold my face is not the autumn wind

Lag me and don't rain at night

I remember the time when the grass was thick

When I saw it, the grass was all over the place

When Zhong Li arrived at a remote place where a stream was splashing, he saw Gu Yu. She sat on a boulder in a pool of water from the stream. A bonfire by the pond dyed her plain clothes red. A hanging man on the fire smoked from it, and there was a faint sound of boos. Hearing the footsteps, Gu Yu stopped singing, probably because of the firelight, his complexion was much better than earlier.

"Can the general receive the goods in this line?"

"Yes." Zhong Li did not elaborate on the response, but first approached to look at the hanging man and the tea set on the side. "I don't sleep in the middle of the night, I cook tea and sing alone, I'm happy!"

"It's not easy to talk about pleasure, so as not to be bored. Now that I'm with you, don't you have to think about it more? ”

"So you're waiting for the two of us?" Zhong Li smiled, "This water is boiling, and you still don't make tea?" ”

"Aged Pu'er, you need three boiling waters."

"Three boils?"

"One boils like a fish, the second boils like a spring, and the third boils like a wave." As he spoke, the hanging lid suddenly jumped. "That's all right." She took the linen cloth and held the hanging handle with one hand, opened the lid of the pot with the other, washed the tea first, and then brewed it. Zhong Li was standing aside, and he could smell the quiet fragrance.

"The tea is good, but the tea bowl only prepared one when I went out."

Zhong Li pondered around, and saw that there were many small boulders around the rocky beach that had been washed out of the pits, so he picked up a piece the size of a fist, soaked it twice in the pool, and groped to wash away the moss.

"That's it." Zhong Li handed the "stone cup" to Gu Yu, turned around and asked Qin Lang if he wanted one, but was refused.

Gu Yu looked at the black stone, and said with a smile while pouring tea: "I should have saved the tea leaves if I knew this, stone cups, moss, mountain firewood, and pond water, so it is really leisurely and elegant to make a table of tea." ”

"Even if you have to call my firehead army to chop wood, it will be enough to boil this rocky beach!" Zhong Li said this, and Gu Yu laughed even more.

"Just joking. The general also knew that I was doing this to 'find out about the military'. ”

"Military intelligence? The military situation is a Shimen Fort under this mountain, which must be taken in the next few days. ”

"I have the impression that it is a fairly solid stone castle."

"This stone fort is surrounded by water on three sides, and if you want to attack the city, you must first cross the water. I don't see any way to cross the water other than the Drawbridge at the City Gate. Although the water is not very deep, but if you are not careful, people will turn over on their backs, the city head is strong, and there is an open field by the water, if you want to attack it, you will inevitably suffer countless casualties. ”

And so it is. The name of this water is Dashixi, and the current is fast. The autumn flood arrives, the water surface is more than ten zhang wide, and it is almost impossible to force the crossing. ”

"You've got a problem for me this first time."

"Everything is difficult at the beginning, if you can take the grain and grass in the city, it will be easier in the future, right?" Having said that, seeing that Zhong Li didn't seem to be in the same difficult situation as before, Gu Yu thought that he had some countermeasures. "What's more, there is no way to do it, and there is a solution, isn't it?"

"I can't say there is a solution. The time and place are favorable, and some ways can be found, but they still don't need to think about it. But since you are leading the way, I want to hear what you have to do first. ”

"I can't talk about countermeasures, it's your business to lead the troops to fight, you can only say what the little girl knows." Gu Yu then said: "This Shimen Fort should have a festival tomorrow night. At the beginning of the autumn flood every year, the city will slaughter cattle and set up altars to pray for good weather and safety in the coming year, and then sing and drink. Because of the rising autumn floods, the guards inside and outside the city were relaxed for a while, and it may be possible to take advantage of this opportunity. ”

"So crossing the river is the key."

Zhong Li was thinking about it, and Qin Lang participated. "If I lead a dozen brothers to swim across the water first, after the festival begins, take one side of the city gate and lower the drawbridge. The general will lead troops to attack at this time, is it possible? ”

Without waiting for Zhong Li to reply, Gu Yu said first: "If you can put down the suspension bridge, it is indeed feasible." However, during the festival, the suspension bridge winch will be locked by iron chains, and the sword may be difficult to cut. If you can't let go of the drawbridge for a while, you are in danger of being trapped in the city. ”

"If not, what if there is no ship and no bridge? It's not as good as a Bo. ”

"Can the bridge be built overnight?"

"A bridge overnight?" Hearing Zhong Li's question, Qin Lang was very surprised.

"In the past, Cao Mengde built a city overnight, but now we are thinking about building a bridge overnight, so what's the matter?"

"Cao Cao borrowed it back then, and the water mixed with the sand was an ice lump. What do you and I have to rely on now? ”

"You know Cao Mengde's one-night city, and you can know Oda Nobunaga's one-night city?"

"Oda's overnight castle?"

"It's prefabs." Zhong Li replied for Gu Yu, but suddenly a flash of inspiration and couldn't help jumping up from the stone pool. "Yes, prefabs!"

"The General has found a way"

Zhong Li's face was full of excitement, "Pass the order, let the craftsmen take local materials from the upstream near the shore, make a log ark twenty, and you and I will go to the glade today, make one hundred wooden stakes, and deliver it by tomorrow night." Time was pressing, so I worked three shifts too late. ”

Qin Lang bowed to the leader's order, but asked again: "Now the order?" ”

Looking up, seeing that the sky was so dark that there was no trace of moonlight, Zhong Li also smiled and said, "I have to give the order now!" Seeing Qin Lang leave, the excitement gradually receded from his face, and when he turned around, Gu Yu was still quietly sipping tea.

"What, have you solved it?" A slightly puzzled smile appeared in the firelight.

Zhong Li changed his mind again, and only smiled back. "I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at night when I drink this tea."

4

"Mom, it seems that this question is wrong in the math book!"

"Really? What's the question? Tell me about it. ”

"It was said that a merchant was going to cross a 1,000-kilometer desert to sell turnips. He has a camel that can carry 1,000 catties of radishes at a time, but he has to eat one catty of radishes for every kilometer he walks, and he has a total of 3,000 catties of radishes, and asks him how many radishes he can take out of the desert at most. ”

"Well, what do you think is wrong?"

"Take 1,000 catties of radishes at a time, 1,000 kilometers in the desert, eat 1 catty at a time, then don't you eat it when you walk over?"

"yes...... Quite a strange question. ”

"I'm wrong, could it be 100 kilometers and an extra '0'?"

"I don't know. But if it's really 1,000 kilometers, what will the merchant do? ”

"If it's true, it is estimated that you will eat 2,000 catties of radishes first, and then sell the radishes out of the desert."

"Then you won't be able to do business from now on, will you?"

"How do you do business in this situation?"

"I think the merchant will find a way to move the radish forward little by little, and if you can walk a kilometer, it will be a kilometer. If you leave 2,000 catties of radishes in place, you may not be there when you come back. ”

"So what can I do, can't I get out or can't get out?"

"What if one of the turnips is almost sold in the middle? In addition, moving forward a little bit is equivalent to shortening the desert a little bit. ”

"Shorten the desert?"

"If you move forward one kilometer as a whole, doesn't it mean that you shorten it by one kilometer."

"Shorten ...... Wait a minute, this problem seems to be solved, I'll do the math......"

……

5

"How many people come from five hundred, do you have to count?" The gust of cool breeze made Zhong Li wake up, and he couldn't see the sky clearly, but he also knew that it was not early, and Gu Yu's tea last night did make it a little difficult for him to sleep. got up and paced, and saw that Qin Lang was already waiting outside the tent in military uniform, and the rain on his face showed that he had been waiting for a while.

"As for being in such a hurry?" Zhong Li patted his shoulder armor and led him into the tent.

"The wooden ark ordered last night has been almost ready, but only the general in the army knows what it is for."

Zhong Li listened to Qin Lang while looking for a clean handkerchief, "What about the stakes?"

Qin Lang took the handkerchief, wiped it three times and wiped it twice, and then continued: "Isn't this just asking where to deliver it?" ”

"Come with me to the glade."

"The Ark?"

"I gave Hu Yang an order last night, and go over first, and you will understand later."

Qin Langzheng was a little confused, and Zhong Li suddenly asked again: "Can you see Gu Yu today?" ”

"Not seen." After thinking for a moment, Qin Lang said again: "I guess I'm still asleep." What's the matter? ”

Zhong Li only nodded and did not explain further.

Ordering the deployment of the next department, Zhong Li went to the glade with Qin Lang and a few guards first. This clearing was originally a place where the ambush troops could be ambushed when the exploration was made during the expedition last night, and it was only a hundred zhang away from Dashixi, but the woods were densely intervened, and thousands of people could easily escape the sight of the guards in Shimen Fort. When the wooden stake was basically completed, Zhong Li chose one and ordered someone to wedge it into the soil. Due to the continuous rain and muddy soil, the wedges of the piles saved a lot of effort compared to normal days. After some inspection, Zhong Li, who was satisfied, found a dry place and waited for the opportunity.

As the twilight grew, about the time when the sunset touched the distant mountains, the team entered Zhong Li's arranged position as scheduled. Zhong Li stood still, and leaned out of the jungle alone to observe the movements in the city. Sure enough, as Gu Yu said, the guards on the city tower have been reduced a lot, but there are more grass-tied livestock, which are probably used for sacrifices. The stream under the city rises to about 156 zhang wide, look closely at the fallen leaves in the water, flow more than zhang per second, if you forcibly swim across, it will inevitably be swept away by the torrent. It's no wonder that the city garrison was all focused on the festival.

The rain began to drain again, and the boundary between the water and the shore gradually blurred in the twilight. When he couldn't see the guards in the city at all, Zhong Li ordered the scouts to quickly pass the order upstream, and made a little bonfire under a big tree by the river beach.

Qin Lang had some doubts about this bonfire, for fear of attracting the attention of the city guards, while Zhong Li explained: "Although a person can see this bonfire from the city, there will not be a few people who think that a large army is coming because of a little bonfire, unless they know the situation. Rather than coming to find out the situation, people would prefer to think that there is a fire to keep warm, after all, there is this autumn flood in the middle. And indeed, as Zhong Li said, no one on the other side of the stream cared about this bonfire.

After some time, something dark and swarthy came down the water. I could hear a few whistling sounds of running water, and something falling around the campfire. Zhong Li led a few people forward, and saw several arrows stuck straight into the ground, and the tail of the arrows dragged a few ropes, so he hurriedly ordered someone to pull the ropes.

The swarthy thing gradually approached the shore with the pull of the rope, and it looked like it was the ark made by Zhong Liming's craftsmen. Two crossbowmen walked down from Zhoushan, and then more than a dozen people carried five wooden stakes forward, three in front and two in front of the wedge on both sides of the ark. Then someone cut off the middle of the rope on the boat and tied it to a stake. Zhong Li saw that it was going well, so he said to Qin Lang: "Is it false to say that this night will become a bridge? ”

Qin Lang hurriedly replied, "It's not false", and Shaoqing said again: "It's just that this kind of binding can hold up?" ”

"It's just a pontoon. There should be no big problem with carrying four people or one horse on a boat, as long as the command is appropriate, it should not be difficult to cross the army in an hour. ”

While speaking, another boat went down the river, and arrows flew in, and Zhong Li hurriedly commanded again. Unlike the first boat, it takes a little more effort to dock the second boat with the previous one, and after docking, the two boats are tied with ropes and then wedged on the stakes, because the water is getting deeper and deeper, and the faster the flow speed is closer to the middle, the more effort it takes to build the piles. Seeing this, Zhong Li ordered the upstream again, before the nine boats, a boat should be slower than the previous boat, and after the nine boats, it would need to be put half a quarter faster.

After the three boats, after Qin Lang was familiar with the work process, he alternated commands with Zhong Li and took turns to rest. Zhong Li retreated, and saw that the festival in the city was in full swing, and the clouds were as red as the rough stone walls with clusters of torches, but the turbulent stream was as dark as the sky around him. The sound of singing and drums and horns spread outside the city, and there was even some sound of piling, which allowed Zhong Li to settle down and rest.

Stealing out of his leisure, Zhong Li was a little worried about Yuan Xian, after all, the entire western Liaoning had been shrouded in continuous autumn rain for a few days. If the stone city in front of him can be taken intact, as long as he finds a way to avoid water attack, it should not be a problem to defend it for half a month. As long as Yuan Xian's men and horses arrive, they can take advantage of the cities here to take root in Liaoxi this year, and when the snow melts in the summer next year, they can take Liaodong together.

This is the eighth year of the third season of Divide, and there are still a little over two years to conquer the city. At the beginning of each season, each clan should choose a city as a base area, conquer the city within ten years, and after the season, the ranking will be judged according to the comprehensive factors such as military strength, territory area, economy, population, etc., and the top three can be divided into three, two, and one city as a permanent base, and will get a lot of information about the next stage of open technology. The first two seasons were open to Bronze Age and Iron Age content, respectively, and the end of the season will be open to technology around around the Renaissance.

Nowadays, Shuoguo has taken most of the five states of Qing, And, Hebei, Xu, Yan, Youzhou and Yuzhou. Although the Yingyue Army in the south fought all the way from Yangzhou to Jiaozhou, considering factors such as population, if it can take Liaoxi and Liaodong and stabilize Youzhou, it will basically lock the crown of this season.

6

"General?"

Unconsciously, Zhong Li had fallen asleep, and Qin Lang called him to change shifts in front of him.

"How's it going?"

"There are already ten boats, and there should be six or seven more boats to complete."

"What hour?"

"Just got to the ugly time."

Zhong Li got up and saw that the pontoon bridge had crossed most of the river, but as soon as he was about to show his joy, he saw that the flames in the city had faded, and the sound of drums and horns had stopped, but now the sound of turbulence had the upper hand.

"Lead me."

Qin Lang was a little puzzled, "How can this bridge take more than half an hour." ”

"Wrap the horse's feet first, the bridge deck is slippery."

Qin Lang received the order to lead the horse, and ordered the cavalry to wrap the horse's feet.

Zhong Li wrapped the horse's feet in coarse cloth while directing the construction of the bridge. As he expected, the progress of the work after the Nine Arks was fast again, but the traction of the Ark became difficult. The position of the ark and the drift in the stream is mostly in the middle, and after the bridge is more than halfway through, the rope can not achieve the purpose of traction, and the workers on the bridge can only adjust the ark in place with a long pole.

Seeing that the pontoon bridge was about to be completed, the sound of piling did not alarm the city garrison, and there were still three or four arks to reach the shore, I don't know how one with a long pole slipped and fell, and the rest of the few made a deviation of strength, and the ark actually turned to the ground and crashed into the pontoon bridge.

There was a muffled sound, and I saw more than a dozen boats on the pontoon bridge tremble together with the impact. Zhong Li took a bold look and saw that the ark was quite light, but a few wooden stakes in the middle were a little crooked. Just as he was about to put his mind at ease, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a little fire on the opposite bank, and then saw a dark shadow flickering towards the stream.

"Who?" After asking lightly, the man seemed to react, and turned around and shouted "enemy attack" like crazy.

Zhong Li felt that the hair on his body suddenly rose, and he flew on the horse in shock, and drove forward wildly, taking a few big steps from the head of the bridge to the end of the bridge, and jumped away, and the turbulence of a few zhang wide was left behind. The knife raised his hand, and the man seemed to be screaming as if his head was on the ground. Although the man was beheaded, the city garrison had been awakened, and the piercing alarm bell sounded desperately.

Seeing that Zhong Li was on the other side of the Pegasus in a moment, Qin Lang hurriedly ordered the cavalry of the guards to follow closely and take over the work of the command of the bridgehead himself. The crossbowmen in the city were in place one after another, and Qin Lang also ordered the crossbowmen to line up behind the shield hands to provide fire cover for Zhong Li.

Arrows rained down in an instant, perhaps because they had just woken up, and the city garrison couldn't have the upper hand. Zhong Li saw that the matter had come to this, so he quickly searched for a way out under the city, not wanting to happen to encounter the iron gate of the drainage channel under the city wide open, and thinking that maybe the person just now came out of here, so he rode forward.

The guards who came later, saw Zhong Lima on the side, and then looked at the aqueduct gate, so they guessed that Zhong Lishema had taken the path. Sure enough, dozens of people walked for a while, and then they saw some firelight. Poking his head out, Zhong Li was crouching in the back alley of the city to observe the situation in the city.

Zhong Li saw that the guards arrived, so he ordered a few people to go back to the gate to lead the followers into the city, and more than a dozen people went to burn the arsenal in the city, and he and the rest of the people copied along the path on the edge of the city to the vicinity of the city tower, and killed them in one go. A ring-headed knife slashed more than a dozen people, and when he went to the city tower, he saw that the suspension bridge winch was really locked tightly by several large iron chains as Gu Yu said, so he had to break the idea of putting the bridge first. Then he killed on the city wall, and saw that his men and horses had crossed the water one after another, so he led the remaining dozen guards back to the drain.

Thanks to Qin Lang outside the city, the battle was spread out, and the garrison was eager to deal with the outside of the city, which made it convenient for Zhong Li to move around the city, but he didn't see the fire in the city for a long time, and the arsenal was probably expected by the enemy army first. Seeing the slaughter back to the back alley, a tall horse suddenly appeared in front of Zhong Li, and a big man with a bare upper body, and the muscles were like oiled stones in the firelight. A hook and sickle was in front of the strong man, and the length and strength were above Zhong Li's saber.

"Who is coming, who dares to attack my Shijie's city?"

Seeing that his guards also surrounded several people one after another, Zhong Li knew that it was a tough battle, so he tightened the knife ring to his hand again.