On the evening of the second day of August, the main force of Zhu Gaoxu's troops had reached the mountainous area east of Rong County. After they passed through the county seat of Rongxian, three full days had passed.

No one knows which government is under the jurisdiction of this place, perhaps Guilin Mansion. Humanity is the best in the world in Guilin's landscape, but there is obviously no such beautiful scenery in the mountains here, as far as the eye can see, there are only lush mountains and forests on all sides, and different shades of green......

Half a month ago, the main forces of the Han Wang's army left Libo County on the morning of July 18.

They walked along the official road for about eight and a half days, marched more than 300 miles, and arrived in the Gyeongwon area on the afternoon of July 25. At that time, it was still more than 100 miles away from Yishan County, Gyeongwon Province, and the army stopped marching towards Gyeongwon Province.

Then the Chinese Army, the Rear Army, and the Left and Right Second Sentinels and Fourth Armies left the official road and set off for Rongxian in the northeast.

At that time, there were only more than 10,000 people in Wang Bin's forward army, and they continued to march towards Yishan County. They searched for enemy spies and scouts on all sides along the road, and spread false news all the way to the army.

Four days later, on the evening of July 29, Zhu Gaoxu led tens of thousands of troops to Rongxian. At that time, the county seat had been occupied by the advance cavalry of the Han army, and the road to the south was blocked. The army rested in Rong County for a night, and then went east, taking the mountain road in the direction of Guilin Fucheng...... Three days have passed, and it is now the second day of the eighth month.

The roads became more and more difficult to walk, and the army was accompanied by many vehicles and livestock, so they had to march along the roads between the valleys in a group of long snakes. The place is sparsely populated, and the roads are often overgrown with weeds and rugged; The soldiers in front of them had to clean up the truth all the way.

The officers and men had to abandon some vehicles and distribute the baggage and food to the soldiers in turn. It was quite hard for everyone to walk this mountain road.

Marching through the endless mountains is like sailing on an endless ocean; Maybe people know that if they keep going, they will definitely be able to get out, but the repeated scenes of Liao uninhabited people will inevitably make people panic.

"Hiss......" The brown horse under Zhu Gaoxu's seat chirped, and the "legendary" river in front of him finally appeared in sight.

The sun had just sunset over the rolling mountains and forests to the west, and it was not yet dark. However, by the time Zhu Gaoxu and the other team returned to the barracks, it must have already fallen at night.

The forward commander made Wang Yu shout happily: "That's Xihe!" ”

Originally, the striker was Wang Bin, but Wang Bin's department became the last defender, and Wang Yu's men and horses were used as strikers.

The surrounding voices suddenly became noisy, mixed with the language of the Shengmiao tribe that they didn't understand at all. The dark-skinned Miao man who was shouting loudly didn't know what he was saying, but he was very excited when he looked at his expression, as if to say: I didn't lie to you!

Wang Yu had previously given this Miao man a piece of silver as a reward for the guide; And the Miao people have a daughter who has grown up, and she just uses this silver to make silver jewelry and marry her daughter. So the two sides hit it off, and even if the language was not very fluent, the cooperation was quite smooth.

There are Miao native officials in the army who follow the army from Yunnan, but the local officials are still unable to easily talk to the local Miao people, it is said that there is a distinction between raw and mature seedlings, and there are also differences in language in various places; It's like the dialect of the Han people, it's not so easy to understand.

After the Han army entered the Guangxi political envoys, in addition to looting the official warehouses in various cities, looting and harassing the people was strictly prohibited by military law. Therefore, the Han Wangjun has not yet had a grudge with the locals, and everything is still relatively easy to handle.

"This river is called the West River, and we will march southeast along this river early tomorrow morning." Wang Yu said, "Go to a river bend, where there is a native village. Then the army crossed the river and continued eastward. ”

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "How far is there to go out of the mountain?" ”

Wang Yu said: "It is estimated that it is fifty or sixty miles, or it may be seventy miles. The march in the mountains is a bit slow, but after two more days at most, we will definitely be able to get out of the mountains! The last general vouched, and soon walked to Guilin Mansion. ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "That is the evening of the fourth day of the eighth month." ”

He turned his head to look at Wang Yu, and suddenly smiled: "General Wang has been working hard lately, but it's just time to lose the flesh on your body." In the past few years, you have been promoted quickly, and your meat has grown fast! ”

"Hahaha......" The generals suddenly laughed together.

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at the light in the west, and said, "Go back to the camp!" ”

The next day, the men and horses of the various units continued to march in long columns. Before noon, everyone crossed the West River one after another...... There is a river beach in the south of Hewan Village, the water is very shallow, and the army directly wades across the river and even the bridge is saved.

By the time the sun was setting, the army had once again encamped in the mountains and forests. The scouts under Wang Yu reported that because this section of the mountain road is the most difficult to walk today, the terrain and road will gradually improve after setting off tomorrow.

Zhu Gaoxu had just had dinner in the camp when he received a report from Wang Bin.

Wang Bin wrote in the letter: Wu Gao may have discovered the movement of Wang Ye's army, and the enemy army turned around early this morning and moved south along the official road on the east bank of the Luoqing River. The last general got the news and decided to return to the army to the south, from the road north of Liuzhou Mansion, to approach Wu Gao's army.

Zhu Gaoxu immediately looked at the date of the payment. On the third day of the eighth month, it was the report that was sent out today.

He looked up and saw that the generals who had just had dinner with him were still in the tent. He handed Wang Bin's letter to the guards next to him, and made a gesture for the generals to circulate it.

After a while, Zhao Ping, who was the first to read the letter, said: "The Marquis of Jiangyin is really a little brave, if he goes straight north to Guilin Mansion to find the prince for a decisive battle, can he know whether he will win or lose?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Our army is divided into several units, Wu Gao may not have figured out how many people there are in the king's middle route army." If he knew that there were only more than 70,000 people in total, and Wang Bin's department was still behind, he might really have a fight. However, Jiangyin Hou's gambling is very small, and he doesn't like to fight uncertain battles. ”

Zhao Ping said: "What the prince said is extremely true. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said in his heart, it is not easy for people who have seen a few cards to lose. Zhu Gaoxu himself often did not know the specific situation of the enemy, and his method was to guess the opponent's mentality. Even guessing and pondering, this is used as a method of judgment.

He pondered for a moment, suddenly slapped his thigh, turned to Hou Hai and said, "Wang Bin...... Hou Changshi will write a letter tonight, and send it to Wang Bin's camp as soon as tomorrow morning! ordered Wang Bin to only monitor the movements of Wu Gaojun, not to fight; Wait for the main force of our army to get closer, and then launch an attack on Wu Gao's army. Warned Wang Bin that if the king's vanguard army was damaged, the king would be severely punished and would never be merciful! ”

Hou Haidao: "The lower official obeys the order!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu felt faintly a little bad. This Wang Bin is the confidant of Zhu Gaoxu, the commander of the three guards of the Han Palace, so he is now the general of the governor. But in terms of war experience, Wang Bin definitely can't compare with Wu Gao, an old fritter.

Several generals in the tent began to talk. Zhu Gaoxu didn't hear what they said clearly, and gradually became a little distracted.

After a while, Zhu Gaoxu unfolded a map on the board and stared at it thoughtfully. He was stunned for a long time, and began to try to use his imagination, between the lines of the city road on the map, to recall the scenes described by the scouts. In this day and age, the coach really needs imagination and memory.

Zhu Gaoxu guessed Wu Gao's thoughts, and the reason why Wu Gao turned around must be because the location of the official army was surrounded by mountains on the east and west sides, and the only way to march in the direction of Guilin in the north and Liuzhou in the south could be ...... Wu Gao had already turned south, and his intention should be to avoid war.

Of course, Wu Gao must not know where the main force of the Han Wangjun is; His decision to turn around and return should have gone through a lot of speculation and trade-offs......

After Wu Gaojun walked out of the mountains along the Luoqing River, he would roughly go east. Because continuing south from Liuzhou Mansion is Laibin County, the Shengyong Department of the South Route Army is marching in that direction.

Where Sheng Yong went, Zhu Gaoxu didn't know for the time being.

However, the military order that Sheng Yong got was to cooperate with the Middle Route Army to deal with Wu Gao, so he would definitely not go to Nanning Mansion again; After they arrived in Tianzhou, they should move eastward in the direction of Laibin County.

From Tianzhou to Laibin County, the march can be reached in fifteen or sixteen days, and the recent weather is also good, Zhu Gaoxu judged: The Southern Route Army will not be too far from Laibin County.

…… To the southeast of Guilin is the area of Pingle Mansion, Xunzhou Mansion and Wuzhou Prefecture. As long as Wu Gao can reach the Wuzhou Mansion of Pingle Prefecture, he will be able to retreat in the direction of the Guangdong Political Envoy and even the Jiangxi Political Envoy.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up the brush and dipped it twice on his tongue, and circled three places on the map, Laibin County, Wuzhou Fucheng, and He County (Hezhou City). And the capital city of Liuzhou has no value at this time.

He began to relate to the post roads and town markers between the triangles, recalling and imagining the terrain within. Post roads and towns are a reminder that people usually build these facilities on a relatively flat level; When he really couldn't recall it, Zhu Gaoxu could also temporarily summon the soldiers of the scout camp and the North Division to talk to those who had inquired about the military situation.

After a long time, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly spoke: "Wu Gao wants to go to He County!" ”

The generals looked sideways, and most of them were a little dazed, and they couldn't understand Zhu Gaoxu's judgment for a while.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't explain, and directly ordered: "General Wang, tomorrow your men and horses will set off on the fifth watch and march to the west bank of the Luoqing River for repair." Then send someone to erect a pontoon bridge to find out the nearby river road. ”

Wang Yu hugged his fists and said: "The last general will be ordered!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "After the whole army rises tomorrow, it will march straight along the southeast road to Yangshuo County and Pingle Fu (Pingle County). We will intercept Wu Gao's army in the Li River basin in the Pingle Fu area! ”

He didn't wait for the generals to answer, and immediately looked at Hou Hai again, "Order Wang Bin to send someone to Laibin County to find Sheng Yong's army." Ordered Sheng Yong to lead the South Route Army straight east and march into Wuzhou. If Wu Gao's army gathers troops and wants to fight with our troops after the encounter, we will do our best to hold back the enemy's main force, wait for Sheng Yong's Ping'an army to outflank it in the north, and attack Wu Gao together! ”