The bald man who fled to Hangjin was shocked, and the bad news behind him chased him like wings, Wuhai lost his hand that night, and the 20,000 soldiers and horses left to be cannon fodder did become cannon fodder, and only fled to Hangjin one after another Less than 2,000, and the rest were either killed or captured, which can be called the annihilation of the whole army.

Hangjin City was lifeless, and the Tartar generals didn't even dare to pant loudly, looking at the khan's gloomy face as dignified as the bottom of the pot, everyone understood that any small matter in this matter could make the khan vent the anger in his heart on his head; Although everyone slandered the Khan's decision, no one dared to speak out.

Two days later, the scouts who kept listening to the movements of the Ming army sent news that after the Ming army left Wuhai, they went directly north into the sea of death, Ulan Bu and the Great Desert, and did not march east to Hangjin as expected.

This is to directly attack Dengkou, forcibly cross the Yellow River where Dengkou is located to seize Linhe County, and copy his own back road. Song Nan, Song Nan, your heart is very big, your heart is very ruthless.

The only thing that can be done is to immediately retreat the main force to the north of the Yellow River, concentrate the remaining more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in Wuyuan, Wulate, Qianzhongqi, Guyang and other places on the north side of the Yellow River to defend Linhe County, and use the Yellow River moat as a fortification to block the Ming army south of the Yellow River.

On the day when he led 20,000 main forces to evacuate Hangjin, he realized that the large area south of the Yellow River would not belong to him from now on. For decades, this land has accumulated a large amount of wealth for the Tatar State, fed more than 100,000 Tatar people, and produced countless cattle, sheep and horses. Even if there are thousands of kinds of helplessness and unwillingness, under this general trend, the decision of Bald Mengke is still decisive, the main force retreats to the north of the Yellow River, and together with the thousands of Divine Eagle cannons and shells that arrived at the starry night, a batch of important equipment and materials quickly rushed west to Linhe Town.

The most worrying thing about Bald Mengke was that the news of the Ming army's success in crossing the river came halfway, although he himself felt that it was unlikely, after the Ming army crossed the desert, it was faced with the turbulent and open Yellow River, which took at least six or seven days, but Bald Mengke's heart no longer trusted his own judgment; Facing an opponent like Song Nan, being suppressed by others everywhere and led by others everywhere, the self-confidence that has been established for a long time has almost been lost.

When the whole army rushed to Wuyuan in the starry night, the good news came, the Ming army had just arrived at Dengkou for one day, and there was no movement to cross the river at this moment, and it was only stationed on the grassland east of Dengkou to rest. The bald man was overjoyed, urged the soldiers and horses to gallop one hundred and twenty miles in one night, exhausted hundreds of war horses, and finally arrived in Linhe County. Forty Condor cannons were then erected on the high ground on the shore, and the soldiers, after a short rest, were immediately driven to build fortifications along the riverbank. A large number of bows and arrows arrived to the soldiers, and dozens of Condor cannons were in place, which made Bald Meng breathe a sigh of relief.

In the face of such a powerful resistance, it is basically impossible for the Ming army to cross this section of the Yellow River. If he didn't want to expose that the Condor cannon was already equipped on the shore, he would have wanted to fire dozens of cannons on the opposite shore to provoke.

At the same time that the Tartar troops on the other side were actively deployed in place, the Ming army camp south of the Yellow River was also busy, and on the barren grassland under the two hills more than 30 miles east of the camp, nearly 5,000 Ming troops continued to carry the logs cut down from the hill and piled them up on the grass, and the two hills were originally overgrown with pines and cypresses and various miscellaneous trees. All the pines and cypresses that were more than an arm thick and more than three feet long were all cut down and transported to the bottom of the mountain. Hundreds of craftsmen are busy chopping and shaving, sweating like rain.

Song Nan fulfilled his promise and led the generals to inspect here, this is the place where Song Nan said to build the tools for crossing the river, and the generals looked at the busy scene here with their mouths open, not knowing what kind of fame the general wanted to create and make such a big battle.

It has been explained in advance that this is not shipbuilding, and it is difficult to complete the construction of many ships that can transport tens of thousands of soldiers and horses by tomorrow spring, so what is the purpose of this stack of wooden shelves that are several feet high like building blocks has become the biggest mystery in the hearts of the generals.

"Guess what it is." Song Nan knew that everyone was very confused, and asked the generals with a smile.

Everyone guessed and guessed that Song Nan always shook his head, and finally Xu Tai guessed something: "It looks like a pontoon bridge, the general should not really be building a pontoon bridge, such a wide river with such a turbulent flowing water, even if you can take a pontoon bridge, it will become a live target for the Tartars." ”

Song Nan nodded and said, "You guessed right, it is indeed a pontoon bridge, but it is not an ordinary pontoon bridge." To be precise, this is the floating corridor, and you see the assembled things over there, the top and sides are covered with trees, and they are connected together like a floating corridor? That's a lot faster than shipbuilding. The bottom is wide, the top is narrow, and it floats on the water without fear of capsizing, and the man charges the opposite shore from inside, ignoring the arrows on the other side. The problem of rockets is to be solved. It also needed to be covered with a layer of arson, and I asked the craftsmen in the army, and they said that a thick layer of sand covered with linoleum would effectively block the fire of the rocket. How much sand is not enough? There are many in the desert in the rear. ”

The generals were dumbfounded, this kind of covered bridge to cross the river was the first time they had seen it, who would have thought that this way to avoid the arrows on the opposite bank? The whole person is like walking in a cave, and there is no fear of arrows, which is an excellent way.

"General, the humble duty is not to lift the bar, this kind of pontoon bridge can indeed float on the water, and people can not be harmed by arrows, but how can such a rapid current fix this thing on the water? Installing a connection can be challenging. Xu Tai frowned.

Song Nan smiled: "It's very simple, have you seen those big stones?" The four corners of each section are tied with thick ropes and the rock is sunk under the water, like the anchor chain of a ship, but it is easier to solve this problem. The craftsmen have done a solid job, except for the slight undulation with the waves, it is very stable. Not only people can get to guò quickly, but also horses and small vehicles can get guò. After the army crossed the river, a dozen giant rafts were built to transport heavy firearms across the river. ”

The generals had nothing else to say except smacking their lips. I just arrived yesterday, and after inspecting the river on the bank of the Yellow River last night, the general immediately sent someone to build this thing. While most people were struggling with how to cross the river, the general had already begun to move. When the general came to visit this place this afternoon, everyone was still a little suspicious, and now it seems that this worry is purely superfluous.

In order to dispel everyone's doubts, Song Nan ordered people to use horses to pull more than ten sections of the trapezoidal wooden corridor to the river, and after tying a large plate of stones at the four corners and launching the water, the wooden corridor was as stable as Mount Tai; Sections of wooden corridors are connected dozens of steps away from the riverbank, and although the water is getting more and more turbulent, it does not affect the passage on it at all, except for some undulating and bumpy roads.

The generals smacked their tongues, looking at Song Nan's eyes full of admiration, such a way may only be thought of by the person in front of him, for any person, except for the forced crossing by boat, I am afraid there will never be any way.

With the help of thousands of soldiers, the progress was rapid, but the timber was a little unable to keep up. Ma Ming had to send more than a thousand cavalry to search for the depths of the grassland, and found a few small woods and wooded hills, which after a few hours, were all bald.

A day later, more than 300 trapezoidal wooden corridors lined up on the banks of the Yellow River, and horse-drawn wagons of linoleum rocks and sand dug from the desert more than ten miles away, thousands of soldiers and craftsmen were busy putting the finishing touches on the corridors. Linoleum is draped over the top and sides, and a thick layer of sand is sprinkled on top of it, and then sprayed with water until it is damp. As a precaution, the wooden gallery is equipped with long-handled containers, so that in the event of a fire, water from the river can be used on the spot to extinguish the fire.

After dark, the wooden corridors began to be slowly connected and built, and the cold wind on the river surface was biting, and the river water was cold. More than a thousand soldiers stood waist-deep on the shore shallows. Push the wooden corridors one by one to the deep water, and then pull them to the end with a rope, put the large stone into the water to fix it, and then connect it with the other end of the fixation with a hinge.

In the end, the turbulent water flow still has a huge obstacle, the whole wooden corridor is also twisted and twisted into an arc in the direction of the downstream, but it still stubbornly extends forward, to the third watch, more than 100 wooden corridors have been installed, the length has been as long as more than 400 steps, under the starlight, it looks like a long dragon winding on the water, slowly wriggling, extremely spectacular.