After resting for half an hour, Zhou Ze set off with his troops overnight.

The moon had risen to its heights, and although it was not a full moon, it was still a little bright, and the shadows of the road could be faintly seen.

Moreover, the troops were still carrying torches, and because the night was much cooler, they marched a little faster at night than during the day.

After a night of rapid marching, and two short breaks on the way, they finally arrived more than twenty miles away from Tingxue Canyon before dawn.

The troops stopped, Huang Ze looked at the map, once again confirmed that the direction was correct, and then said in a deep voice: "The reconnaissance squadron and a battalion and a company will go first as the vanguard, and after arriving at the destination, they will seize the commanding heights first." If you spot an enemy, you can fire directly to block it. ”

"Yes!" The commanders of the two armies shouted their orders, and soon the sound of horses' hooves sounded in the distance, and they disappeared into the dark pre-dawn darkness.

"Resting for a quarter of an hour." Huang Ze watched the vanguard leave, and ordered in a deep voice.

He was able to rise so quickly, in addition to fighting bravely and using his brains, there was one thing that he never casually despised his enemies.

If the other party's generals are not stupid enough to go home, then they must be able to see the importance of listening to the snow canyon.

Then, it is very likely that the enemy will send an elite group of men and horses to seize this place.

Therefore, he must keep the energy of the large army in order to have a better chance of victory in the upcoming fierce battle.

The reconnaissance squadron and a battalion and a company rushed to the north entrance of Tingxue Canyon without stopping.

At this time, the east has begun to show the whiteness of the fish's belly.

After a brief discussion, the two commanders decided that the reconnaissance squadron would enter the reconnaissance first, followed by a battalion and a company.

In order not to cause too much noise, everyone wrapped the horse's hooves in cotton cloth and put a title on the horse's mouth, and dived into the canyon in the quietest posture.

On both sides of the canyon are dense forests, in which you can faintly see the faint and gloomy peaks, and from time to time there are the howls of wild beasts and one or two bird calls coming from both sides, which sounds a little terrible.

The canyon is not very long, only about ten miles at most.

Although the road is not wide, it is not to the point of a sheep's intestine path, so it is no problem to walk carefully.

The reconnaissance squadron cautiously rode through the canyon until it reached the southern exit of the canyon without incident.

Wiping the sweat from his head, the lieutenant captain of the reconnaissance squadron breathed a sigh of relief and said: "It seems that we came in time, and the enemy did not rush ahead of us." ”

At this time, the sky had already brightened, and the sound of birds in the dense forests on both sides began to become dense, and the mountain forests that had been sleeping all night slowly woke up.

The lieutenant captain jumped off his horse, climbed to a nearby high ground and observed the surrounding terrain with a telescope, and then ordered loudly: "The first detachment occupies the commanding heights on the left, the second detachment occupies the commanding heights on the right, and the third detachment defends the canyon." Send someone to contact the company. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, his expression suddenly turned grim and his ears pricked up.

Because he heard from the wind the neighing of the war horses of his life.

This sound is very sensitive for a qualified fighter, and the squadron leader makes a fist with his right hand and raises it violently.

The people of the reconnaissance squadron understood the meaning of this gesture, and all of them fell silent in an instant.

The lieutenant and captain listened intently again, and another gust of wind blew from the exit, and sure enough, there was another neighing of a war horse.

The lieutenant captain's face became solemn, his arms raised and crossed above his head, making a gesture that he had spotted the enemy and was ready to fight.

The Reconnaissance Squadron is like the special forces in the later armies, and they also summarize some gestures for silent communication on the battlefield.

The leaders of each detachment made an OK gesture almost at the same time, and then quickly led their respective soldiers into the designated position according to the captain's previous orders.

The third division team also quickly moved the war horse backward into the dense forest on both sides, and at the same time sent people to report to the company in the rear.

The neighing of the war horses heard by the lieutenant captain was made by the war horses of the vanguard of the Zheng Jiajun.

Although he marched overnight, Zheng Sen, the major general of the Zheng family, who fought alone with illness for the first time, still felt that the march was too slow.

This time, he persuaded his son Zheng Zhilong to lead the Zheng family's elite family troops to act as the vanguard to attack Wenzhou City, just to prove his intentions.

He was eighteen years old, but he had never commanded a battle alone.

Although in the eyes of outsiders, the essence of their Zheng family will always be a group of pirates.

Even his own father and uncles and brothers thought so.

But the young Zheng Sen didn't think so, he felt that the Zheng family could not always bear the reputation of pirates.

Therefore, he had a grand wish, that is, to make the Zheng Jiajun an elite army qualified to compete in the world, not only on the sea, but also on land.

Although this point was a little lacking in interest for the fathers who did not have much enterprising spirit, Zheng Sen still desperately persuaded his father to use the advanced firearms purchased from the British to hire British instructors to train an elite firearms unit belonging to the Zheng family.

Although Zheng Sen is young, he is not short-sighted.

He was keenly aware that the shape of the war would be greatly adapted, and the reason for the change must have come from this advanced musket with a longer range, faster rate of fire, and higher accuracy.

And he heard a lot of stories from the British about their conquest of the world, no matter how much water there was in these stories, but it also made a fire ignite in the young Zheng Sen's heart.

The army had been training for a year, and he felt it was time to come out and test the results.

This sneak attack on Wenzhou City was his suggestion.

Although the reason behind it is not exactly the same as Yue Peng's guess, it is not much different.

On the one hand, because the main force of the Qin army left, the defense of the Jiangnan region was empty.

On the other hand, the British told the Zheng family that their other reinforcements would arrive soon, and at the same time a shipment of new artillery sold to the Zheng family.

This news greatly stimulated Zheng Zhilong's ambitions, and also made him interested in his son Zheng Sen's plan to attack Wenzhou, and finally agreed.

Although according to the plan, once the musket battalion of 3,000 men led by Zheng Sen successfully occupied Wenzhou, the main force of the Zheng family's army would arrive in three days.

Moreover, the Zheng family and the British fleet would also send reinforcements from the sea to contain the sailors of the Qin army.

However, Zheng Sen knew that if his attack failed, then the reinforcements promised by his father and the British, who were already afraid of the Qin army, would most likely disappear, and he might not have the ambition to go north in the future.

Therefore, no matter what it was for this time, Zheng Sen would not allow himself to fail this time.