On the east shore of the West Sea (Qinghai Lake), a group of soldiers and horses are moving south along the shore of the lake, and the cold wind whistling on the lake from time to time blows the faces of all the soldiers and generals like knives, and the goose feathers and heavy snow on the faces of the faces are still falling.

In order to hide their tracks in the wild snow, everyone was wearing a white cloak, and Zhao Ziliang, who was riding a horse at the front, was already covered with a thick layer of snowflakes at this time, and even the red tassels on his helmet were snow-white.

Feeling a little thirsty, Zhao Ziliang rode his horse to the side, let the people behind him continue to move forward, he got off the horse and reached out on the ground to grab a handful of snow and stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it, the inch-long short beard was already covered with frost, and the mouth and nostrils kept exhaling long white vapor.

The knee-deep snow made the march of the army extremely difficult, and the marching speed was slowed down by at least half, the chief of the guard, Malehan, was the deputy general this time, he rode over from the back of the team and jumped off the horse and said to Zhao Ziliang, who was squatting on the ground chewing snow water: "General, the marching speed is too slow, and you can't get up fast if you want to, if it goes on like this, we are only afraid that we will not be able to reach the Chiling Pass late tonight, and the wind and snow are so big, many soldiers have a lot of strength, and they begin to slowly pull away from each other, and it is a matter of time before they fall behind, If you fall behind in the snowy wilderness here, it can only be a dead end, is it not for the soldiers to rest? ”

Zhao Ziliang stood up and shook his head and sighed: "No, I can't rest, now in this situation, I will never get up again if I lie down, I can only grit my teeth and persevere, and when we get to the leeward, we will cook some hot soup and make some hot food, so that the soldiers can warm up, and now at this time it is definitely not ・・・・・・"

Before he could speak, Zhao Ziliang stopped.

Surprised, Brehan asked, "General, what's the matter?" ”

Zhao Ziliang looked at the thick ice on the lake on the right, and then turned his head to look at the shields that the soldiers were carrying behind them, the spears they were holding in their hands, and the horizontal knives they were carrying at their waists. ”

Brehan wondered, "General, what's there?" ”

Zhao Ziliang immediately said: "Brehan, pass the order, let all the soldiers go on the ice on the lake!" ”

When Brehan heard this, the muscles on his face trembled, and he said with a sad face: "General, there are not many people in the army who can slide on the ice, and they can't stand steadily, how can they march?" ”

Zhao Ziliang waved his hand: "This is easy to do, let everyone put their shields on the ice, people sit on the shields, use spears or knives to prop up and slide forward, in order to prevent falling behind, take out the ropes, let the soldiers be tied together, if they encounter enemy troops, immediately cut off the ropes to face the battle!" ”

The ice on the surface of the lake is at least 30 centimeters, and with such a thick layer of ice, even if tanks and planes advance on it, it will be no problem.

Brehan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "No, my subordinates will go and give orders!" ”

When the order was given, everyone moved from the edge of the lake to the ice in the middle of the lake, and the soldiers spread their shields on the ice, and the men sat on them again, and with a single stretch of their hands, the shields carried the men and glided forward for a short distance, which made everyone cheer.

Seeing that it was indeed feasible, the captains, brigade commanders, and team commanders immediately began to organize their own soldiers to line up, and the soldiers each took out ropes to tie themselves with the soldiers in front and behind, so as to prevent them from falling behind, and they could also quickly cut the ropes when encountering the enemy, and find their own troops and commanders, so that they would not be able to find soldiers and soldiers could not find generals in the event of an attack.

Under the guidance of Zhao Ziliang, the officers and scouts on horseback wrapped their hooves with cloth, so that they could ride horses on the ice and trot, as long as they did not gallop, there would not be much of a problem.

In this way, the speed of the march was greatly increased, and it was faster than the usual march, and this section of the lake could completely make up for the delay before.

The infantry team of 1,000 people slid quickly on the south shore of the West Sea in a neat rectangle on the lake, the friction between the shield and the ice made a dull sound, and the whole team moved forward quickly like a white torrent, without the slightest confusion, Zhao Ziliang and the lieutenant generals and colonels rode horses on the side of the team and trotted.

After running for a while, Zhao Ziliang stopped his horse, beckoned to Brehan behind, and when he stopped his horse, he ordered: "Send some scouts to go out ten miles to investigate, in addition to reconnoitring the enemy, but also to find the confluence of the Daochuan River and the West Sea, where we will turn to the east, and after the turn, let the sentry find a mountain depression for the army to rest and eat."

Brehan arched his hand and said, "My subordinates understand! ”

If it weren't for the luck of the detectives, who caught a Qiang man who was digging through the ice by the lake to fish, it would not be easy to find the intersection of the Daochuan River and the West Sea in this vast snowy day.

The river also has a thick layer of ice, and the trend of this river is not much different, just for the army to slide on the ice, the scout rode on the north bank of the river near the Sun Moon Mountain to find a depression, the terrain is relatively flat, there are many trees, the key is leeward, Zhao Ziliang ordered the army here to rest here for an hour, light a fire to cook.

At this time, it was already late afternoon, and the army was resting in this mountain valley, and the men stared at the cold to cook food for the soldiers, and boiled the broth, which put a lot of ginger in order to ward off the cold.

After a full meal, the soldiers warmed up, and the group gathered together to sleep and rest to replenish their physical strength.

An hour later, the army continued its journey, and most of the soldiers had eaten and drunk enough to sleep again, and although the quality of their sleep in the ice and snow was not very good, they were finally half refreshed.

The river had more bent sections, which made the march a little longer, but it wasn't a problem, and the soldiers were able to glide on the ice much faster than on flat ground.

At night, the army stopped at a small village and went ashore, Zhao Ziliang ordered the army not to enter the village, but directly from the village through the turn to the north on the Tangbo Ancient Road, although the herdsmen in the village felt that there was a large group of people outside the village, but saw that this group of people did not enter the village, but rose to the north, and could not see clearly at night, so they did not pay attention.

On the left is the inverted river, on the right is the vast prairie, Zhao Ziliang led the army to walk on the Tangbo ancient road, and the guide who was captured was afraid of it, but he did not lead the way.

Stepping on the thick white snow, creaking under the soles of the feet, no one in the ranks spoke, only heavy gasps and the grinding of weapons and armor.

The local guide who was captured walked next to Zhao Ziliang, and then he pointed to a mountain on the left and right in the distance in front of him and said: "My lord, that is Chiling, you see, between the two slightly higher mountains is the Chiling Pass!" ”

Zhao Ziliang looked at the vague shadows of the mountains in the distance in the night, nodded and said: "Okay, you will be with us for the past two days, and when the war is over, we will naturally let you go and give you money, but don't think about escaping, then you will die, understand?" ”

The guide nodded again and again: "Understood, understood, adult, villain don't run, don't run!" ”

After walking for a while, he finally arrived at the foot of Chiling Mountain an hour earlier than the scheduled time, and walked another twenty miles across the Chiling Pass to Shibao City, but Zhao Ziliang was not ready to rush overnight to attack Shibao City, and the soldiers were already exhausted after marching for such a long time, so they had to have a certain amount of time to rest and replenish their strength.

Zhao Ziliang ordered to camp at the foot of Chiling Mountain to rest, let the men make some hot food for the soldiers to eat, replenish their calories and physical fitness, and sent a lookout to guard the surroundings, which is located on the back of the line of sight of Shibao City, even if a fire is lit at the foot of the mountain, it will not be discovered, and the Tubo people will never think that the Tang army will appear behind them.

The soldiers were eating and resting in the camp, and Zhao Ziliang and Brehan walked to the Chiling Pass, where if the weather was clear during the day, they could see the Stone Fort City twenty miles away. Zhao Ziliang turned his head to look at the mountains on the left and right, and sighed to Brehan: "Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng passed through here to go to Tubo and Qin, they are as strong as the Tang Dynasty, and they can't avoid exchanging women for peace, and exchanging the bodies and lifelong happiness of one or two women for a country's national peace and security for several years, or even decades!" Was it right or wrong for the emperor and the court to do this? ”

Brehan touched his head when he heard this, and said: "General, the subordinates don't understand the truth, but if they are subordinates, their subordinates will never sacrifice their women in exchange for their own livelihood!" ”

Zhao Ziliang sighed: "The position of a person determines his vision and angle of looking at things, for the emperor and the imperial court, if a woman can be exchanged for the peace of the country, in their opinion, it is worth it, sacrificing a person's lifelong happiness in exchange for the peace of the whole world, this deal is cost-effective, and they don't look at whether the person who is sacrificed is willing!" When Princess Wencheng married Tubo, she was only sixteen years old, in fact, at that time, my dynasty had defeated the Tubo country militarily, after the defeat of the Tubo country, Songtsan Gampo sent an envoy to Chang'an to see Emperor Taizong, and asked the princess of our dynasty to him. I don't know if Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng were voluntary, but whether they were voluntary or not, at least after they married to Tibet, the two countries did not have a war for decades, and in my Chinese history, there are only a handful of strange women such as Princess Wencheng and Princess Jincheng! Do you think they deserve our respect, Brehan? ”

Brehan nodded heavily, but did not speak.

"Well, after we lay down the Stone Fort City and the surrounding Wu Fort, find a craftsman to carve the statues of the two princesses here with stone and set them up on both sides of the Chiling Pass for future generations to admire!" After Zhao Ziliang finished speaking, he flicked his cloak and turned around and walked down the mountain pass.

"No!" Brehan agreed, and hurriedly followed. (To be continued.) )