With Uncle Orion leading the way, the Eastern Navy finally arrived in front of the storm pass before dark that afternoon.

The Storm Earthquake Pass is the most majestic level that the people in the East China Sea Team have seen in their dreams on the Dongzhou Continent so far, and although its city wall is more than four meters high, it is slightly inferior to the East Pass at the end of the tail. But this is by no means because of the height restrictions imposed by the Duzhou government on the local city walls, let alone because of the need to cut corners, but because it is really a huge project to build a city pass on this terrain, and it is quite difficult to build it to more than four meters high today.

"It's time to catch up with the Tiger Prison." Standing in the depression at the bottom of the mountain, Sima Fuqiang looked up at the Xiongguan located in the saddle of the two adjacent mountain ranges.

Although it is not known how high the absolute altitude of the storm pass is, it is at least more than fifty meters higher than the valley where the Eastern Navy is located. A ramp of almost 30 degrees is already the best route up the mountain, and the other directions are almost the same as the cliffs, all of which are steep slopes greater than 45 degrees, not to mention marching and fighting, and it is difficult to even walk and stand normally.

Even the thirty-degree ramp was not so easy to walk, the cavalry could not form a sprint speed from the bottom to the top, and the huge siege equipment was difficult to push up even if there was no interference, and it could only be attacked by manpower. Moreover, the width of the ramp is only five meters wide, and there is no open space to move in front of the pass, and the widest part can only allow dozens of people to stand side by side, which is really difficult to put much pressure on the storm gate.

The stones of the wall of the storm pass were obviously made of local materials, and the black basalt showed a sense of calm heaviness, which deepened the sense of immobility. The mountains on both sides are full of rocks with teeth and claws, and the sharp edges and corners are like a forest of knives and guns, which makes people shudder. Even the soldiers of the Eastern Navy, who had never tasted defeat so far, couldn't help but gasp after seeing this scene.

Looking at the storm pass in the saddle of the mountain beam from afar, Sima Fuqiang could imagine Dou Jiande's mood when facing the Tiger Prison Pass, and he really couldn't imagine how much manpower needed to be filled in to overcome such a level. It is conceivable that as long as there are 500 defenders at this moment, the 2,000 people of the Eastern Navy will have no chance to shake this level at all.

Huang Zhi frowned and looked at it for a while, then turned his head to look at the Orion uncle, "Is there any other route?" ”

The middle-aged mountaineer had a bitter face, "If there are other roads to go nearby, why did you build this storm pass back then." There are some routes that herb pickers can climb to reach the top of the mountain, but I don't think the soldiers of the Eastern Navy can do this. ”

Huang Zhi also understands that the herb pickers are all rock climbing masters, and the routes they walk are not something that ordinary people can set foot in, so to let these Eastern Navy soldiers who have not been trained in this area go to climb the mountain, I am afraid that there is no need for the mob army to do it, and more than half of the 2,000 people in Mali will have to fall to their deaths on the road.

After thinking about it for a while, Huang Zhicai asked again, "What if you take a detour?" ”

"Detour?" Uncle Orion was stunned for a moment, "Sir, are you saying bypassing the Storm Pass?" That's not easy. If you go east, you need to go back to Huixian and then go south, and there is a storm on the other side of the mountain, which is said to be no easier to attack than the storm pass. ”

Let's not talk about whether it is easy to attack the violent departure pass, just thinking of borrowing Daohui County, the Eastern Navy will inevitably not be able to make this choice, otherwise it will first have an entanglement with the Duzhou government army. This military operation of the Eastern Navy was not officially authorized, and the mere fact that it crossed the border and led troops into the territory of Duzhou has already violated the authority of the Duizhou capital, and let the officers and soldiers know about it, I am afraid that this matter will not be good.

Huang Zhi shook his head painfully, "Well, what about going west?" ”

Uncle Orion turned his head to look west, "It's a bit far to the west, and you need to walk more than two hundred miles in the mountains to reach the next mountain pass. And there is a checkpoint there, called the Storm Kun Pass, the terrain is not as steep as here, but there are more garrisons. ”

Even if the two-hundred-mile mountain road is to travel at night, it will take more than three days, which is unacceptable to people in dreams. At this time, the defenders on the mountain had already seen the Eastern Navy in the valley, and if they gave up the Storm Pass and headed west at this time, it would not be possible to be faster than the other party. Because the south of the storm pass is a contiguous northern plain of the storm county, from the storm pass to the west to the storm kun pass, it only takes one night to reach the fast horse whip.

I am afraid that when the Eastern Navy arrives at the Storm Kun Pass, the other party is also ready to wait for the Eastern Navy to send them to the door, and may even set up an ambush halfway to catch them off guard.

Giving up the plan to make a detour, Huang Zhi gave Uncle Orion some belongings as a thank-you gift, and let him leave the storm pass that was about to turn into a battlefield.

At this time, Sima Fuqiang had already summoned the generals of the Eastern Navy and immediately convened a temporary military meeting.

Huang Zhi first told everyone what he had learned from Uncle Orion, and then quietly waited for others to express their opinions.

Shi Liu Yuanzhi, the commander of the Eastern Navy, spread out the map of Bang County, pointed to the northeast corner of Bang County, and said, "As marked on the map, the nine cities on the periphery of Bang County, like the states on the mainland, are named after the innate gossip. Around its northern plain, from west to east, they are Storm Gong City, Storm Kun Pass, Storm Earthquake Pass and Storm Departure Pass. These four gates echo each other from afar, and as long as one of them is attacked by the outside world, reinforcements can arrive within two days. ”

Sima Fuqiang continued his topic and said, "That is to say, if we choose to storm the Storm Earthquake Pass, if we can't take this pass within two days, we will face more defenders from the third day, and the hope is even slimmer." ”

Liu Yuanzhi nodded, "That's right, we either choose to give up, or we can only win this level within two days." ”

Zhang Wei frowned and stared at the map for a while, then looked up at the storm gate that stood proudly on a high place, and finally his eyes fell on Li Erhu's body, "Erhu, do you think the 'trapped camp' can grab the city?" ”

Li Erhu glanced at the storm and was embarrassed for a long time before he replied in a low voice, "I'm afraid it won't work......

On the side, Du Ziteng helped him explain, "The slope is too steep, let alone attacking the city wall, rolling stones, sassal wood, fire oil, arrows, this blow down, we will lose hundreds of people when we climb the slope." ”

"Yes, this is not to attack the city, but to send it to death!" Huang Zhi had to agree with him.

"Are we just going to withdraw our troops so inactively?" Zhang Wei was a little unwilling, "Is there really no other trail up the mountain?" As long as you can get the 'Trapped Camp' close to the Storm level. ”

Huang Zhi shook his head, "There is no way to make the 'trapped camp' go up the mountain, but there is a way for the medicine picker, and you need to climb the cliff." ”

"Cliffs?" Zhang Wei clearly felt that this was an opportunity.

"Yes, the hunter probably knows that there is a route up the mountain, but the last section is almost a steep cliff." Huang Zhi explained.

Sima Fuqiang's eyes lit up, "Do you remember Zhennan Pass?" At that time, Ren Wei led us up a cliff. Are you going to do it again this time? ”

"Yes." Zhang Wei nodded, "Since there is such a path, I believe we are not without a chance." ”

Sima Fuqiang was not willing to give up, with the ability of "terrain reproduction", he was able to deduce a lot of terrain with blind spots, and he thought of it practical for climbing mountains and mountains. With Zhang Wei in charge of leading the team, I believe that the herb pickers can go up to the cliff, and they can also go up.

"Then let's do it, let our dream man go up the mountain!" The final decision was made by the captain of the Tokai team.

"So what should we do when we 'trap the camp'?" When Li Erhu heard that there was a play, he immediately came to the spirit.

Huang Zhi turned his head and glanced at the ramp in front of the storm gate, and analyzed it for everyone, "The vertical height of the storm pass from the ground is about fifty meters, the slope is thirty degrees, and the ramp is about 100 meters long. Because the slope is steep, it will take at least a minute to rush to the front of the pass, and with the time to climb the castle, you can get to the top of the castle in five minutes. In this case, we are responsible for taking the city and destroying the defenses of the mob. Wait for us to send the signal, the 'trapped camp' must immediately set off to rush the level. The other cavalry battalions, the second battalion and the recruit battalion followed. ”

"Yes, Boss Morale! Leave the rest to Erhu and me, you can rest assured! ”

"Do you want to be a coolie again?" Although Xiaofeng's complaint was quiet, none of the people present were deaf, so they naturally heard it.

Seeing Sima Fuqiang raise his palm and look at him, he hurriedly covered his head with both hands and shrank behind Wanyue's broad shoulders, feeling a bit like playing eagle and catching chickens with the captain.

Seeing that he had already dodged, Sima Fuqiang scolded, "You stupid! As far as you talk a lot, Renwei's skills have reached the A rank, and I and Shixin and Zisha also have the B rank, you are just too lazy, and now you are still in the C rank! Let you do more work, what is there to complain about? ”

"I'm not complaining, I'm just asking." Xiaofeng defended himself quietly.

Sima Fuqiang had already diverted his attention from him and began to arrange the next action, "In that case, let's start acting overnight." I don't know if this road is good or not, if it doesn't hurry, if it drags on for too long, even if you take the storm pass, I'm afraid you will have to face a large number of reinforcements, which is not conducive to the military operations behind. ”

His proposal was supported by Huang Zhi and Zhang Wei, and these three people were enough to decide all the actions of the East China Sea team, so they didn't care about resting, and the people in their dreams embarked on the journey again.

The so-called herb picker's path is the kind of path that occasionally appears on the side of the mountain road that can only be passed by one person, and it usually leads to the cliff in the end. According to the information that Huang Zhi had asked for from Orion in advance, this herb picker's trail was about five miles west of the ramp of the Storm Earthquake Pass, that is, on the south side of the mountain road to the Storm Kun Pass.

According to this clue to find, with the help of Sima Fuqiang, who has the ability of "night vision", even this is not easy. It wasn't until two hours later that they finally found the path, which was almost hidden in the trees, and could still find some traces left by man, proving that it was not a beast path.

Walking up a gentle and winding slope along the trail, and advancing forward for about an hour, the dream had climbed to a third of the height. However, according to Sima Fuqiang's "sand table deduction", if you follow this trail to the end, you will reach the top of the mountain seven miles east of the storm pass, that is, deviate from the direction of the storm pass.

"It's not the way, is it?" Sima Fuqiang asked a little uneasily.

"That's right, this is the way!" Zhang Wei instead made a promise.

Huang Zhi looked at the two of them in a tangled way, not knowing whether to trust Zhang Wei's professional knowledge or the captain's exclusive skills. After hesitating for a while, he asked, "Ren Wei, why are you so sure?" ”

Zhang Wei saw that Huang Zhi was also suspicious, and had to come up with solid evidence to reassure the two of them. "The reason why this road is so tortuous is entirely because of the route that the herb pickers choose according to their own needs. More than once during this part of the journey, I found that we were taking detours, all in places where certain plants were particularly dense, apparently places where herbs were collected. ”

Then he walked to the side of the path, where there was a relatively tall shrub with a small piece of relatively flat ground under the tree, which was not enough space for a tent, but allowed two or three people to sit on the ground. In the middle of this small piece of ground, there was a position that was darker than the surroundings, Zhang Wei reached out and touched the ground, and then showed his hand to his teammates.

"See? This is the ashes of a campfire, indicating that the herb pickers usually spend the night under this tree. This is Zhang Wei's most powerful evidence.

Although he had already believed in Zhang Wei's inference, Sima Fuqiang couldn't help but ask, "Could it be that the medicine pickers in modern society are exactly the same as the ancient Xi surnames?" ”

Hearing this, Zhang Wei asked rhetorically, "Is there any difference between Chinese medicinal materials in modern society and ancient ones?" ”

"That's right." Sima Fuqiang was finally relieved. In addition to those medicinal materials that can be artificially planted in a large area, some special wild medicinal materials still need to be collected by the herb pickers in the deep mountains and old forests. Since these herbs have been used for thousands of years and are still used by people, it is not surprising that the herb pickers follow the old-fashioned way of going into the mountains to collect medicines.

After eating this reassuring pill, the captain of the East China Sea didn't mind where this herb picker's path would eventually lead, after all, the herb picker didn't want to sneak attack the storm level, and it was more reasonable to deliberately deviate a little, so as not to cause misunderstanding among the defenders and cause unnecessary trouble.

And for the person in the dream, as long as he can go up to the top of the mountain smoothly, the things that follow will be much easier. Heading west along the ridge, the downward slope is less than fifteen degrees, and that section of the road should not be difficult to walk, although the distance is a bit far, but it is possible to return to the range of the storm pass.

In this way, the nine dreamers climbed all the way up the path of the herb pickers, and when the dawn rose from the storm pass in the east, they finally came to the bottom of a cliff, and the road came to an end.

Sima Fuqiang once again activated the ability of "terrain reproduction", confirming that the top of the invisible cliff was the top of the mountain.

There was a relatively large open space under the cliff, and when he launched his skills, except for Zhang Wei, the other team members had already collapsed to the ground tiredly, seizing every bit of free time to recover their strength.

Glancing at the people who had not rested for nearly twenty-four hours, it was definitely irrational to believe that it was definitely irrational to conquer the cliff in front of them at this time, not to mention that there was a battle to attack the Storm Earthquake Pass later, Sima Fuqiang decided to rest on the spot and wait until the afternoon to continue the most difficult part of the journey.

Du Ziteng's cavalry scouts were still waiting for news on the mountain road at the foot of the mountain, and Zhang Wei took out a small mirror and signaled the mountain for a while by the warm light of the rising sun. A moment later, the same flash of light was reflected from Yamashita, indicating that the other party had noticed the message from Yamashita.

This set of communication methods was taught by Zhang Wei to the scouts and commanders of the Eastern Navy by drawing on modern military means and slightly improving the easy-to-learn Morse code. His signal was "We haven't arrived yet, we're resting now, waiting for our notice in the evening." ”

Yamashita's answer was only two words, "received".

Maybe everyone was really tired, and this sleep was until the twilight of the West Mountain, and the first person in the dream woke up and woke up his teammates one by one. If it weren't for the fact that a whole day had passed, and there was not much time left for the Eastern Navy, the people with back pain were really unwilling to risk their lives to climb a cliff at night.

Fortunately, this is on the Dongzhou Continent, and the equipment carried by the dreamman is much more complete than when he was in Zhennanguan, and the rope hooks and claws are all available, so there is no need to make temporary production at all.

After Zhang Wei tied the hiking rigging to his body, he turned his head to look at his teammates, "Do you remember the arrangement when Zhennan Pass was in town?" I'll go up first, and when I go up the mountain, I put down the rope, and the others will come one by one, Zisha will be the last to go up, Shixin, you will accompany her below for a while. ”

Sima Fuqiang added, "I use my 'night vision' ability and 'terrain reproduction' to help you watch here, and you listen to my command." ”

Zhang Wei nodded, and then began to climb up.

Night rock climbing, this is a project that mountaineers dare not try easily, and a careless will be fatal. That is, they have always regarded their desperate efforts as idle dream people, and in their opinion, this kind of thing will not be much better than going to the battlefield with real swords and guns.

Fortunately, it is the fifteenth tonight, and the moonlight is quite good, at least it can allow Zhang Wei to see clearly where he is about to start, otherwise there is no lighting equipment in the 'real' world, this kind of thing is really not done by people.

His teammates watched him go up little by little, and in the blink of an eye, he climbed to a height of five meters, and Zhang Wei was stretching out his right hand to grab a rock about half a meter away from him. Who knew that it was actually a piece of floating soil, Zhang Wei just transferred the weight of his body, the stone actually fell off the cliff, if it wasn't for his left hand has not been released, the whole person almost lost his center of gravity and fell.

Witnessing this heart-pounding scene, everyone's hearts almost jumped out of their mouths, and Li Sha was even ready to take first aid measures at any time. It wasn't until Zhang Wei stabilized his body that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Wanyue shouted below, "Don't be nervous, even if you do fall, I can catch you." ”

Zhang Wei responded above, "Hehe, even if you fall down at this height, you can't die, what are you afraid of!" You better watch your head and don't get hit by falling rocks. By the way, Captain, you can protect Zisha with a shield and don't let her be injured by falling rocks. ”

Sima Fuqiang was right to think about it, and hurriedly took protecting Li Sha as the first priority, and at the same time let his teammates who were watching under the cliff avoid Zhang Wei directly below.

Despite some bumps along the way, after half an hour, Zhang Wei reached the top of the mountain without danger and lowered the rope. The next thing was much simpler, with Zhang Wei pulling the rope on it, it took a total of two hours, and the rest of the team members also went to the top of the mountain.

(To be continued)