It was the first time that Wang Sunchen stood on the bank of the Yellow River west of Chang'an.

There are no towering levees, only wide riverbeds, and the murmuring sound of the turbulent yellow water rushes in front of you.

The surging river in front of him is not the mud torrent that Wang Sunchen saw on the road when he entered Beijing in the past. Although it is still muddy, you can see at a glance how different it is from the muddy water with a bowl of water and half a bowl of sand.

"The water of the Yellow River comes up from the sky, rushes to the sea and never returns. If I can clone upstream, I really want to go upstream to see where the source of the Yellow River comes from. ”

Wang Sunchen followed the sound and turned around, and Wang Hou didn't know when he had walked up.

Wang Hou stood beside Wang Sunchen and looked at the Yellow River together. At the age of thirty, he served as the governor of Quantaozhou, and the jurisdiction of Xihe Road, and even transferred his literary resources early, and was the prince of the eighth grade. In the Eastern Court of the Inquisitor, even if he has the title of Jinshi, it is generally impossible to take charge of the military and political affairs of a state at this age. To be able to do this, we can only rely on military merit.

After ten years of training in the northwest border, Wang Hou, who has two short beards, has dark skin, but he still looks young. The temperament is calm and thick, and a pair of eyes are neither sharp nor sleek and introverted, but firm as stone. Wang Sunchen looked at him as if he had the feeling when he first saw Wang Shao.

"I remember that Yukun once said that the sediment in the water of the Yellow River comes from the high slopes of loess in Shaanxi Province, Longxi, and once the rain passes, the sediment is all down. When we reach the lower reaches, the flow slows down, the sediment gradually settles, and the riverbed rises day by day, causing flooding. The trouble of the Yellow River is in the sand, not in the water. In order to fundamentally control the sediment of the Yellow River, it is necessary to use grass and trees to conserve water and soil. Wang Hou smiled, "It's a pity that it can't be done." It is also upstream from Lanzhou, where the grass and trees have not been cut down for hundreds of years, and the situation is a little better. ”

Of course, Wang Sunchen still remembered what Han Gang said back then.

After so many years, the four people who drank in the small hall of the barracks back then have all stood at a height that others have been unable to reach for decades. This is something that I never dared to think about back then.

He looked back at the river, and a horn began to accompany the sound of the waves: "Zhao Da is going to cross the river." ”

Wang Hou immediately looked over, and not far downstream of the two of them, a long chain-like pontoon bridge crossed the river, and was swept out of a semi-circular arc by the turbulent river water. The bridge deck undulates on the river, and the carriages and horses walking on it look like they are moving.

Nineteen large and small ferries, plus a dry sheepskin raft, this is the tool used by Lanzhou to cross the river in the past. However, after the officers and troops arrived in Lanzhou, it took four days to build a pontoon bridge with ferries and sheepskin rafts.

Before this, Yu Zang Huama had already diligently helped the officers and soldiers sweep away the western thieves on the other side, so that the officers and soldiers could cross the river without hindrance.

Yesterday at noon, the pontoon bridge had just been built. But this morning, in half a day and overnight, more than 10,000 officers and soldiers had crossed the Yellow River.

Zhao Long, as the No. 1 trusted general under Wang Zhongzheng, his dispatch represents that the Chinese army has finally begun to cross the river.

"When Zhao Da leads the 8,000 men and horses of the first and second generals of Xihe to cross the river, it will be the turn of the Fan army. Let's hope they don't mess around on the bridge. ”

For this war, the Fan army on Xihe Road is reluctant, they can make a lot of money by farming and raising horses, and they play football and watch football and gamble in their spare time, so it is necessary to sell their lives? It's a pity that there are strict orders from the imperial court, and from Dong Yu down, they dare not disobey. An army cobbled together by hundreds of tribes was led by Dong Yu's cheap son Ali Gu.

Thinking of the patchwork army, Wang Hou couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly.

Ali Gu himself is a drag oil bottle, he does not have the blood of the Tubo Zampu family, and he does not have much prestige among the Tubo tribes in Hehuang, if it weren't for his perennial familiarity in Gongzhou's Fanxue, he would not have been able to lead the army at all.

"Don't expect them to go into battle, just scare people." Wang Hou sighed.

"I don't know if Yu Zang Huama will send someone to send troops together?"

Wang Sunsin asked, and both of them glanced back at Yu Zang Huama, who was smiling humbly beside Wang Zhongzheng.

"Probably will." Wang Hou looked at Yu Zang Huama's courteous appearance, and he would not miss this opportunity to sell well, "Lanzhou will be taken down, and then with the official army to Lingzhou, a steady observation will be made." ”

"If it weren't for the prestige of the official army this time, how could Yu Zang Huama be able to control Lanzhou so easily?"

"It is also the reason for the decrease in the strength of the party in Lanzhou City. At most, that is, in the ninth or tenth year of Xining, there were 12,000 iron harriers in Lanzhou City, and almost all of them had to be supplied by him. In those two years, Yu Zang Huama wrote a letter a month begging the Economic Strategy Division to send troops to attack Lanzhou as soon as possible, and he must have dedicated the city gate with both hands. It was only last year that it was reduced to eight thousand. This number remained until before the war, when most of them were suddenly transferred to the north just a month earlier, leaving only 3,000 men and horses. Wang Hou paused for a moment and added, "And almost all of them are composed of members of small clans. ”

Wang Hou was smiling, and the lines outlined in the corners of his mouth were full of irony, the intention of the Western Xia high-level to do this could not be more obvious, they would never stand up to the officers and soldiers who had just been sent out, but planned to use the difficult and dangerous road to gradually consume the sharp energy of the officers and soldiers, lengthen the supply lines, send troops to intercept the grain routes, and constantly weaken the strength of the officers and troops.

"Lure the enemy deeper?" Wang Sunsin sneered.

"Naturally, there will be no other tricks." Wang Hou pointed to the Yellow River, "But the key to this battle is in Lingzhou, eight hundred miles downstream. Xingling was originally one, and Lingzhou was abandoned, and Xingqing Mansion was not guaranteed. Once the official army captures Lingzhou, Western Xia will be dead, no matter what strategy is useless......" His voice suddenly became low again, "But if the official army can't capture Lingzhou, then the opportunity for the Western Thief to reverse will come." ”

"The third brother said the same thing."

The more troops gathered under Lingzhou City, the greater the logistical pressure. Once more than 300,000 troops gathered in Lingzhou City, what kind of situation would occur, Wang Sunchen couldn't think of it.

Fortunately, he was going west, and as long as the 6,000 men and horses could cross the Hongchi Ridge, they could have as much food as they wanted, and they didn't have to rob their own families.

Wang Hou sighed: "Obviously, I can earn the opponent's belongings step by step without taking any risks, but I still have to gamble." If you lose, you will go bankrupt, and if you win, you can only get the bet on the opposite side two years earlier, and I have never seen such a deal. ”

Wang Sunchen turned his head to stare at Wang Hou, and said suspiciously: "It's not like what you said, why are all businessmen kissing?" ”

Wang Hou then smiled: "This is what Feng Si said. It's just a businessman, but his insight is much stronger than those in the court. ”

"After all, it's the third brother's cousin. It's not going to be bad. Otherwise, in just a few years, the money earned can catch up with the finance and taxes all the way. ”

Wang Hou shook his head, "Don't talk about this, you will go into battle when you cross the river, don't be confused." ”

"Confusion won't happen again, if you can attack cities and plunder land, you don't care about those heads."

After crossing the Yellow River in Lanzhou, the combined forces of Qin Feng and Xihe were to rush to Lingzhou in the northeast, while Wang Sunchen was to lead a partial division to attack Liangzhou in the northwest.

However, before that, it was necessary to capture Zhuo Luocheng, fifty miles west of the north bank of Lanzhou, which was the core of the Western Xia Zhuo Luo and the Southern Military Division, and also an important stronghold used by the Western Xia to control the north bank of the Yellow River. Whether to the east or west, if Zhuo Luo City is not controlled, and Zhuo Luo and the Southern Army Division are not bulldozed, the grain road and the back road may be cut off at any time.

Wang Sunsin still remembers what a monk who had been assigned to his command a few days ago to serve as a guide had told him.

"After laying down Zhuo Luo City, I traced the Kaluo River [Jinzhuang Lang River] to the north to Hongchi Ridge. The West Thief has a village under Hongchi Ridge [Wusheling Ridge], named Jisang. This stockade was specially designed to intercept Uighur traders who wanted to make a detour to Lanzhou. After the Western Thieves conquered Ganzhou, Suzhou, and Liangzhou, in order to collect taxes, they forced the Uighur merchants who had taken the Hexi Road to continue due east after passing Liangzhou, arriving at Xingqing Province through the northern route of the Silk Road, and then heading to the Central Plains, strictly forbidding them to take the central route with abundant water. ”

"The greed of the Dangxiang people was well known among the Uighur merchants, and not to mention the collection of taxes, sometimes some tribes would pretend to be bandits on the way*, and they could not keep their people and goods. If it weren't for the fact that he was hiding from these robbers, how could there be the new road taken from Qinghai [Qinghai Lake]...... That is the most difficult road to take, but Tubo is much more faithful than the party members. ”

"In summer, Hongchi Ridge is as cold as winter, and it can snow in June. If you want to go over the mountain, you must first prepare your fur fur and cold things, otherwise you will get frostbite if you are not careful. ”

Not only did he get the customs and customs of Hexi from the monks who traveled to and from both sides of the Yellow River, but there were also a lot of information about the geography of various places in the Shunfeng trip, and Feng Congyi sent a guide to report to Wang Sunchen with the information early.

In order to cross the Hongchi Ridge, which is as cold as winter in summer, the 6,000 men and horses assigned to Wang Sunchen are all carried with him in winter clothes.

The existence of Hongchiling blocked the grain route between Lanzhou and Liangzhou, and Wang Sunchen's light army was actually very dangerous. However, Liangzhou is a big city, and there are a lot of fields around, and it was just June in the past, so it was not difficult to collect grain on the spot. The strong walls of the party members will not include Liangzhou.

Looking at Zhao Long riding a horse from the pontoon bridge, Wang Zhongzheng, who was wearing gold armor, also arrived at the bridge, Wang Sunchen turned around and waved his hand to Wang Hou: "Governor, Shunchen is leaving." ”

Wang Hou replied: "Wang Hou is waiting for good news in Lanzhou." ”

Wang Hou's send-off ended here, he would not continue to go north with the army, but would be responsible for the mobilization of grain.

Lanzhou, which is geographically important, will next become a military station to deliver grain and grass to the former army. When the imperial court had not yet formally established the state-level establishment of Lanzhou, Taozhou, which was close to Lanzhou, would temporarily bring the city under its jurisdiction.

And Wang Hou, the governor of Taozhou, is the chief official in charge of grain transportation, and half of what Wang Zhongzheng can do depends on Wang Hou's ability.