Early autumn of the 30th year of the Liang calendar

The grassland outside the feudal city was unconsciously replaced by yellow by the green of summer, and the feudal city had been in turmoil for most of the month, with 40,000 Xuanjia troops, 60,000 Chiwei troops and 100,000 Guangyuan troops gathered outside the feudal city. The commander of the Eastern Expedition was King Yu, the commander of the left army was Yang Zhong, the general of the Guangyuan Army, the commander of the right army was Shen Yongnian, the commander of the Chiwei Army was Shen Yongnian, the commander of the Chinese army was Geng Yan, the commander of the Xuanjia Army, Feng Chu, the commander of the left army, Gu Hongxuan, the commander of Wugongwei, and Jiang Xiaoyu, the commander of Tenglongwei; He Yunke, the commander of the left rank guard of the right army, and Lu Wenxuan, the commander of the left guard; Geng Yan, the commander of the Chinese army's Jin Jiawei, and Xia Junmao, the commander of the Han Dao Guard. Most of the elite of the three armies are gathered in the feudal city, which shows that Emperor Liang attaches great importance to the Eastern Expedition, and the vast army of 200,000 people, the military supply is very important, so the imperial court sent Sima Jun Cao Han Bing to personally escort the grain and grass.

"Fifty miles outside the city is the night dragon water, is the boundary river of Daliang and Donghu, ushered in the rising water period after the autumn, the first pass of our eastern expedition is how to safely let the army cross the night dragon water, after all, only twenty miles away is the first city of Donghu Wulei City, the guard will be Mo Hu, according to the scout report that there are about 50,000 garrisons in the city." Facing the sand table and talking eloquently, it was He Yunke, who was dressed in black gold armor to set off his sturdy figure, with a good appearance, standing just past, and speaking calmly and powerfully.

King Yu agreed, "Our Chen army has been in the fiefdom for nearly a month, and it is impossible for Donghu not to know, as the first pass, they will definitely do their best to prevent us from crossing the river, and that is when our army's combat effectiveness is the weakest." ”

"The last general thought that the archers would be sent first to maintain the suppression of the other side of the Yelong River, and the sappers seized the opportunity to swim in the water to build a pontoon bridge, and there was no other way." It was Jiang Xiaoyu who spoke, compared to He Yunke, he was older, and a pair of hanging eyes on his narrow cheeks looked very shrewd, as the commander of Tenglongwei, he had rich experience in actual combat, and his words also carried weight.

"That's right, I really can't think of any other way besides, if we wait until the spring of next year, when the night dragon water will enter the dry period, it will be much easier for our army to get through, but the saint is too anxious." Lu Wenxuan is the youngest of all the commanders present, and he speaks straightforwardly, so it is difficult to be tolerated in the court, but Xuan Shaoning likes to associate with this kind of young and promising person in his heart.

"Lu Lang will still be so fast-talking!" Feng Chu, the commander of the Zhenfu Guard, was the eldest, his temples were already frosted, and the wrinkles on his forehead and the corners of his eyes were like knife carvings recording the passage of time, and he was nearly sixty years old but full of energy. "As a soldier, it is my duty to obey military orders, and since the Holy Lord has issued an order, we can only go all out!"

"That's what Feng Lang will say!" King Yu respects this old general very much, although the military rank is not high, but he is experienced and loyal to the country, "just act according to the strategy of General He Lang, and start to cross the night dragon water tomorrow." ”

"General, the strategy was proposed by the last general, and the last general will lead the army to cross the river first!" In the face of He Yunke's initiative to ask for help, King Yu pressed his shoulder heavily to show his approval.

In the early morning of the seventh day of the ninth month of the 30th year of the Liang calendar, when Yin, an army appeared in the west of the night dragon water, although there were many people, but the whole army was silent, by the mist that was permeated on the water surface of the night dragon water, the engineer battalion took the lead in launching the water, the sappers carried the plank on their shoulders, while the plank was quickly connected head to tail, and the temporary pontoon bridge was fixed with rattan soaked in water and oil, and every eight sappers lay a wooden stake under the water to strengthen the pontoon.

King Yu was dressed in military uniform and rode on a war horse, surrounded by the generals of the three armies, Xuan Shaoning, as a captain, was standing at the front of the team with bated breath watching the engineer battalion extend the pontoon bridge inch by inch towards the other side of the Yelong River, beside him and not far behind him, Shi Gong Zhengyuan, Si Heng, Ling Feiyan and 200,000 Liang soldiers were standing, motionless.

The temperature in the moor had begun to drop in autumn, and it was the coldest time before dawn, but all the generals and soldiers were not affected by the cold in the slightest, and they watched the sappers with all their attention. The well-trained engineer battalion lived up to expectations, and in just half an hour, the pontoon bridge was already approaching the center of Yelongshui. A point of light appeared in the night sky before dawn, and soon there were more and more points of light, and in a short time half of the sky was already covered with countless points of light.

The enemy is attacking! The Donghu army on the other side launched an attack on the beam, the point of light in the sky was the ignited arrow cluster, the arrow rain soon arrived at the sappers who were in the half-crossing position, the sappers without blades had nowhere to hide, they watched in horror the arrows with fire poked into their bodies, and the shouts were endless for a while, seeing that the robe was shot dead and drifted away with the water, more sappers could only retreat while trying to hide themselves under the pontoon bridge in the hope of escaping, more arrow clusters shot on the pontoon, and soon the pontoon began to burn.

"Archers in line! Shoot the arrows! ”

At the shout of the trumpeter, the more dense rain of arrows of the girder began to counterattack, and after one round, the first group of archers retreated, and the second group of archers immediately filled their positions and fired in turn, ensuring that the rain of arrows continued to shoot towards the enemy camp. The strategy worked, and soon the wails and moans of the Donghu soldiers were heard on the opposite bank, and the arrows fired at the pontoon bridge were significantly reduced, and the engineer battalion seized the opportunity to immediately replenish manpower to speed up the construction of the pontoon bridge.

In order to ensure the construction of the pontoon bridge, the Daliang army has already been prepared, the number of arrows is far more than that of the Donghu army, under the cover of the non-stop arrow rain, Donghu has no power to counterattack at all, and the engineer battalion finally successfully set the pontoon bridge on the opposite bank of Yelongshui in less than half an hour after the battle.

He Yunke roared, led 10,000 left-rank guards to rush onto the pontoon bridge and then stepped on the land of Donghu. After the rain of arrows gradually stopped, the Donghu people immediately launched a ground battle to defeat the Great Liang army while it was still gaining a foothold. Mo Hu personally went into battle to boost morale, and for a while, the Donghu army rushed to the Yelong River to launch a cold offensive against the Daliang army that had just stepped on the land.

He Yunke used a seven-zhang long silver spear, riding on a horse to give full play to the power of the silver spear, one shot pierced through the two Donghu soldiers who rushed up, and after throwing the two corpses away, a round swept away the enemy who was close to the war horse a few steps away. The Liang soldiers who crossed the river one after another joined the battle, and with tacit cooperation and personal martial arts, the Liang army slowly expanded the battle circle.

"The enemy must not be allowed to spend the night dragon water!" Mo Hu, the commander of the Donghu guard, roared hoarsely, and under Yaba's call, more Donghu soldiers rushed into the battle circle, while other Donghu soldiers picked up their bows and arrows again and began to shoot at the pontoon bridge, but they were soon firmly suppressed by the denser rain of arrows on the opposite bank. As the number of Liang soldiers crossing the river continued to increase, He Yunke also became more and more courageous, and the left rank guard fought hard to kill the enemy under his encouragement, and the battle circle expanded towards the Donghu people at a faster speed.

The whining black flute sounded on the other side of the Yelong River, and the Donghu soldiers showed signs of retreat, Mo Hu led the remnants of the army to retreat towards Wulei City, and He Yunke was eager to make meritorious contributions and immediately led his men and horses to pursue. King Yu saw this scene in his eyes, his face was expressionless, and soon Jiang Xiaoyu led Tenglongwei and Feng Chu led Zhenfuwei to cross the river to join the battle.

"Geng Yan!"

"The last general!"

"Lead the Golden Armor Guard to guard the pontoon bridge and protect the retreat of the army!"

"Yes!"

The engineer battalion began to repair part of the burned pontoon bridge, Geng Yan led a team of men and horses to cross the river to defend the bridgehead on the Donghu side, and the sound of fighting on the opposite bank was incessant, starting from the time of Yin until the time of Chen, it gradually weakened. Xuan Shaoning stood on tiptoe and stared wide, seeing the soldiers of the left rank on the opposite bank, one of them wearing yellow armor and riding a horse to the Yelong waterfront, shouting loudly: "Wulei City has been taken!" ”

Just a few words made the tense nerves of everyone on Yelongshui's side relax instantly, King Yu finally showed a smile, and the soldiers who did not participate in the battle cheered in unison, the victory of the first battle greatly boosted morale, and the soldiers who had participated in the battle were very proud of themselves, and the sharpening knives that failed to participate in the battle Huohuo. After several hours of fighting, the Liang coalition army captured Donghu's Wulei City on the bank of Yelongshui at the cost of less than 1,000 casualties, which laid the foundation for the next in-depth Donghu operation and gave the Liang army a stronghold on the border of Donghu.

"Donghu's combat strength is not comparable to our army, general, let's strike while the iron is hot and continue to attack and capture Xinya City, eighty miles away from Wulei City!" After returning to the Daliang realm, He Yunke, who won the first battle, seemed very excited, and he was also full of confidence in the next battle, so he actively admonished.

"At this moment, the unity of the army is indeed a good opportunity to make a move, but even if the combat effectiveness of the Donghu people is inferior to our army, we must not take it lightly!" The elder Feng Chu was more cautious, "Xinya City is not far from Wulei City, but this is the stage of transition from the wasteland to the forest, at this moment, Xinya City must have received the news of the defeat of Wulei City, it is difficult to guarantee that they will not be ambushed halfway." ”

"And according to what we know so far, the defenders of Xinya City have reached 100,000, this city is high and deep, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and I am afraid that it will be a vicious battle next!" Xia Junmao agreed with Feng Chu's opinion.

"Xinya City must be taken, otherwise it will take two more days for our army to detour first, and leaving Xinya City behind our army is undoubtedly an unstable factor." Jiang Xiaoyu stood on He Yunke's side and thought that Xinya City must be captured first.

Seeing that several major generals were at odds with each other in the face of the next battle strategy, Shi Gong Zhengyuan looked at the sand table and said, "Everyone, judging from the sand table, there is also a city fifty miles southeast of Xinya City," everyone was attracted by Shi Gong Zhengyuan's words, and turned their eyes to the small city marked "Rong Mi" on the sand table.

"Here?" The commander of Wu Gongwei, who had not spoken, made Gu Hongxuan seem to be inspired: "This city is built between two mountain ranges, and the plain across this city is a flat river, which is very conducive to cavalry attacks, and the only way to enter and exit this forest is at the foot of this city, this captain has good eyesight!" ”

Shi Gong Zhengyuan winked at Xuan Shaoning, and the latter immediately flashed a lightning bolt in his head, "Oh, the last general has an idea, say it and let everyone discuss it!" After getting the affirmation of King Yu, Xuan Shaoning said: "Our key is to capture Rong Mi City, after which it is conducive to the gallop of the Liang cavalry, then for Xinya City, our army may not necessarily have to fight to capture, but can besiege but not attack, so that it can not transmit news to the outside world, nor can it send troops to aid Rong Mi City." ”

"That's right! Besiege Xinya City until it runs out of ammunition and food, and then it will be much easier for our army to take it again! Si Heng reacted first and shouted excitedly: "But in this way, we need to divide the troops into two ways." ”

"Captain Xuan's plan is very good!" King Yu praised Xuan Shaoning approvingly, "Our army is divided into two routes, one way to feint to attack Xinya City is to besiege it, and the other way to storm Rongmi City, be sure to take it!" ”

Under the arrangement of King Yu, Shen Yongnian led Zuo Rank Guard and Zuo Wuwei to besiege Xinya City, and Yang Zhong led Wugong Guard, Tenglong Guard, Han Dao Guard, and Jin Jiawei to attack Rongmi City. The capture of Wulei City on the first day of the battle was a great encouragement to the officers and men of the three armies, and after only an hour's rest, the army marched to the second battlefield. Xinya City was built in the jungle, the Red Tail Army marched to the city with great fanfare and began to attack the city quickly and quickly caused the appearance of being bound to take, and the Guangyuan Army and the Xuanjia Army took advantage of the chaos to cross the ridge and bypassed the Xinya City and went straight to Rong Mi City, the soldiers were very fast, and the 150,000 troops each carried dry food, never buried in the pot to cook, and kept running day and night, and finally arrived at the Red Ghost Valley at noon on the second day.

"War aside, although the name of this Red Ghost Valley is ugly, the scenery is really first-class beauty!" Si Heng couldn't help but sigh in the face of the scenery in front of him, there was no need to deliberately echo it, and the others present felt the same way.

The valley is sandwiched between the two sides of the wall, the rocks are blood-red, the difference from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the canyon is more than 100 feet, there is a stream flowing at the bottom of the canyon, covering the crisp grass and verdant trees that cover the valley, especially the wildflowers everywhere attract swarms of bees and butterflies to linger in it. If it weren't for the war, many people would want to take off their armor, wash off the stains on their bodies with clean water, and lie on the grass and look up at the blue sky.

"I think it's because of this blood-red rock that it's called Red Ghost Valley!" After all, Ling Scarlet Yan is her daughter's family, and she can't help but yearn for the beautiful scenery, her original serious expression has become extremely lovely under the afternoon sun at this moment, and Si Heng's eyes on the side are straight.

"You're only half right!" An Haoran didn't know when he came to his side, "What you are talking about is just the source of 'red', but the explanation of the 'ghost' part is missing." ”

"Captain Andu, you should explain it!" Si Heng asked with interest.

"Everyone has seen the beauty in the valley, the beauty is beautiful, but unfortunately it is a poison cave, take the stream as an example, don't you think it looks too blue from a distance at this moment?" Seeing that everyone nodded, he continued: "Is that because the stream is poisonous, do you look southeast and see the half-broken mountain in the distance?" ”

Following An Haoran's pointing, several people looked in that direction, and there was a not far from the hill at their feet that was not a towering peak, and the top of the mountain seemed to have been cut by someone with a knife, showing a flat trend, no wonder An Haoran would call it "a half-broken peak".

It is said that there is a huge lake at the top of the mountain, and the water of the lake is so blue, that it flows out of the peak to this valley, and the water of the stream is so poisonous to people and animals that if you drink a sip, you will die in less than half an hour. And those plants and trees that have been nourished by the stream for many years are also poisonous, and they can be eaten by mistake or scratched. ”

"This .......," Si Heng's eyes widened in disbelief.

"How do you know?" Shi Gong Zhengyuan asked.

"I was born in the city of Fengju, and I have been in contact with the Donghu people since I was a child, and I have done some small business with the Donghu people, including many herbs, which should be poisons, but they are the king's medicine of some prescriptions, and the rouge girl must know it."

An Haoran suddenly threw the topic to Rouge, who had been following behind Xuan Shaoning, which was unexpected by everyone. Since Rouge's Fang Zi saved the soldiers and civilians living in the city, her ability has been recognized by the soldiers of the three armies, so although Xuan Shaoning did not agree to this Eastern Crusade, she still persuaded the commander of the three armies to successfully follow the army to the Donghu territory, Xuan Shaoning never knew how she did it.

Seeing that someone had clicked on him, Rouge stood up and said, "An Duwei is right, at this moment we are standing on the top of the hill and looking into the distance, just as far as the eye can see, I can see several kinds of poisonous weeds that are difficult to find in the Central Plains, the one with seven small purple flowers on one stem is called Seven Purple Soul Breaking Grass; On the side of it is tall and on the top of it is a large orange-yellow plate-shaped pair of flowers called the silk of the basket, and these two alone are very valuable. ”

"Didn't you say it was a poisonous weed, why is it worth a lot of money?" Si Heng gives full play to his inquisitive temperament.

"Because they are two commonly used prescriptions, the 'purple' in the purple grass paste is the seven purple soul breaking grass, and the 'purple' in the other snow soup refers to the silk of the bamboo shoot, these two recipes are classics, they are the holy medicine for treating external injuries and regulating the body, and these two poisonous herbs are the two prescriptions of the king's medicine, and the traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to the monarch and the minister, and the status of the two can be imagined! The most rare thing is that these two flavors of poisonous weeds are not produced in the Central Plains, so you understand the meaning of the high value! ”

After listening to Rouge's explanation, everyone suddenly realized, and Xuan Shaoning was also appreciative. An Haoran said: "It's really the best policy to bring the rouge girl!" Hearing An Haoran's praise, Rouge straightened his waist very proudly, and glanced at Xuan Shaoning, causing Xuan Shaoning to shake his head and smile.

"We know the origin of the name of this canyon, and we also know the hidden dangers behind this canyon, but everyone should pay more attention to the city at the top of the canyon." Shi Gong Zhengyuan pointed his hand towards the middle of the canyon.

Rong Mi City is built on a high hill in the middle of the Red Ghost Valley, the Red Ghost Valley as a whole is like two horns with openings facing outward, the tail end of the horn is connected to each other, and the openings of the horns are facing both sides, creating an open valley mouth and narrow terrain in the center of the valley, Rong Mi City is built on the narrowest high ground in the middle of the canyon, and the choke point is firmly guarded, the peaks on both sides of the Red Ghost Valley are steep and abnormal, so the army wants to pass through the canyon only in the middle of this road, and the Donghu people choose to establish Rong Mi City here It can be said that it is very visionary, Rong Mi City can be regarded as a typical example of easy to defend and difficult to attack.