Tents connected to each other spread out in the woodland, filling the damp clearing that was once full of woods. In just one morning, the seemingly endless birch forest was bulldozed to the ground, and the clearing was filled with countless brown stumps, which looked like a beehive that had been dug up from afar.

After the birch grove was toppled down, the trunks were piled up and arranged in a staggered manner, and soldiers and craftsmen tied them, cut, peeled, charred, and dried them, each doing their job. Tents were erected on the spot, with long and short birch trunks arranged in the outermost ring of the camp, and the short ones were laid in between, and the walls were built into them. Although the birch is soft, it becomes strong when dried, and the trunk is flattened by craftsmen, woven into pieces of wood with ropes and nails, and laid on the muddiest plots. The land is full of hidden traps, and if you are not careful, you can be swallowed by the swirls of mud. Birch bark is also functional, it is thin but impermeable, and can be spread on the roof of the camp tent and covered with a baggage cart.

This is all the plan of Yan Chonghu, the general of Zhennan. "To defeat the swamp people in the wetlands and jungles, we need a lot of craftsmen and their tools. "As it is said, lumberjacks, carpenters, blacksmiths, cobblers, all kinds of craftsmen can greatly simplify their work, and although there are some things that soldiers can do for them, they are far less effective than craftsmen. The army conquered one wetland forest after another in accordance with the law, and although it was a little slow, it did advance step by step. The green-skinned foes did not dare to confront them head-on, and the lizards and swamp dwellers, who relied on hard skin instead of armor, wielded wooden spears and hardened bows and arrows, came to attack while they were asleep, harassed them when they camped, and snooped when they rested, but they did not dare to fight face to face, they played guerrilla warfare, and then gradually retreated into the depths of the plains.

The army marched south, and when it reached the border city of Wapian Town, the rebels retreated. The army of the Xianglong Kingdom can fight well, and the prestige of the great general Long Chengtian is heard of even by the green-skinned people hiding in the deep land. The town of Tiles, the town of Cooking Smoke, and the town of Green Tree were regained and returned to the embrace of the kingdom, which was a feat that Bian Li, the governor of Xize Province, could not do for a long time.

But in order for these cunning and stubborn enemies to submit, it is not enough to scare them, they must be given a profound lesson in blood and fire, and this lesson will allow them to weigh the consequences before they take a step forward next time. Therefore, Long Chengtian accepted Yan Chonghu's plan to march and crossed the border to advance to the land of Shenze. This time he led an army of 100,000 to the south, of which 80,000 remained in Xize, and only led 20,000 to go deeper.

Nishizawa still has bright spring sunshine, warm autumn and snow-covered winter, but the deep land is the best taste of summer. It was a muddy wetland of decaying leaves, branches, rain and animal carcasses, where swamp hooves and herons fluttered their wings and leaped down to the surface to prey, and the larvae of water voles and four-winged flies lurked in the mist. Many of the plants here have their rhizomes partially exposed, and the accumulation of decaying material on the surface becomes their nourishment, and the decaying gray and gloomy green obscure the sky and block most of the sunlight from entering the dense forest. And on the edge of the lake, which seems to be rich in water and grass and nourished by the sun for a long time, there are colorful poisonous snakes and huge toads, and there are even dangerous quagmire pits that are difficult for human eyes to distinguish. But the swamp is not useless, the berries of lingonberry make fine wine, the eucalyptus can be used to refine sesame oil, and countless herbs such as black triangular and lobelia, lobelia, and locust leaf pings can provide a variety of medicinal effects, and the native races here know its dangers as well as its benefits.

However, it was not easy for the boxers to destroy the enemy's lair in such a strange land, and there was not half of the people in the military pavilion who had the experience of going deep into the deep realm, but Yan Chonghu still asked Long Chengtian to at least take down the Great Barrier. Far from the border, the Great Fence is still the closest swamp village to the border, famous for its bamboo fence. The swampers had no real forts or towns, so they roamed the wetlands, building hut settlements on the water, or building treehouses in the woods, and enclosing the villages with thick hedges or sharpened wooden fences, even with basic protection. They rely more on roundabout guerrilla attacks, traps, and tamed Zedi beasts to confront their enemies.

Historically, Xianglong's armies have been reluctant to penetrate into this place, and the terrible climate, unfamiliar territory, and terrible miasma are far more terrifying than the aborigines. There has never been a general of the Xianglong Kingdom who led the army to fight with a large number of craftsmen, they seem to have come to cut wood and make utensils, and wherever the army goes, the first thing is to clear the dense forest, build a camp, lay wooden rafts, make waterproof appliances from local materials, and have doctors and pharmacists who are familiar with Zedi plants, and provide good medicine against miasma, moisture, and venom with the army. Steady progress, the price paid is longer.

Long Chengtian had to admit that Yan Chonghu's plan was indeed effective. The bald general, who followed him for almost a decade, never disappointed him and has always been the most trustworthy left arm and right man. After five days of marching, they were already very close to the Great Fence, according to the local natives, only two or three hours away.

In less than half a day, he will take down a swamp settlement, and if nothing else, Greyscale or one of his sons will be on the front line to ensure the fighting spirit of the defenders. He can capture them and force the Lizardmen Kingdom to sign an alliance with them. Next, he can triumphantly return to the court.

He sat in his large tent of cowhides, the ground covered with a thick canvas of animal skins, and the order to rest had been given, and now he had to wait for news of the scouts. The swamp was humid and sweltering, but as the commander of the army, he still wore thick metal armor, at least until the war was about to begin. The golden scales were stained with water everywhere, and the inside of the scales was already so wet that even the thick beard could wring out water.

In addition to the Dingyuan general Li Yue stationed in the shallows fort, and the Dangbei general Fang Jue led an army of 80,000 to stay in the tile town, the Zhennan general Yan Chonghu and the Pingxi general Meng Yunhe all went out with the army, and the rest also included his younger brother Long Yingtian, the captain of the general's personal guard, Yuan Yiping, the captain of the general's personal guard, and Zheng Fang, the deputy captain, Xiao Biwei and Zheng Dahua, the staff officers of the army, Ye Xuan, the logistics director, and Deng Bofeng, the physician of the army.

"Our army has gone deep and barren, and the hardships and dangers it has experienced are not comparable to those of the past. The soldiers were suffering from miasma, and the supply of medicine was already in short supply, and if they continued to delay, their morale would be demoralized. Long Zhentian looked around the camp, and finally his eyes fell on Deng Bofeng, the military physician, "Even if our army wins a big victory and withdraws immediately, we must have sufficient medicine, do you have a solution?"

Deng Bofeng was a man of thin stature and a mediocre face, although he was a member of the military cabinet, he was not strictly a soldier, so among all the people present, he was the most relaxed-wearing a thin gray linen gown, showing a few wet stains, but it was much more comfortable than armor. The chief asked, and he immediately replied: "Your Excellency, this birch bark can be dried to make oil, and it is quite effective against poison gas and external wounds. The scouts found a kernel nut nearby, and its fruit was a good medicine for repelling insects and miasma, and our troops could pick it in large quantities for the return journey. In this way, the shortage of drugs can be alleviated to a certain extent. ”

"You go to handle this matter, and you can only mention it to the examiner if you need anything. Long Chengtian gathered his wet beard, shook off some sweat, and his gaze drifted to the logistics chief again, "Ye Xuan, are you ready?"

"My lord, everything will be ready before the attack tonight. "Contrary to Deng Bofeng, although Ye Xuan is tall, he is an out-and-out fat man. Someone in the military cabinet once ridiculed that the person in charge of logistics was so fat, I was afraid that it was because he had made too much oil and water. And no matter what rumors there are, Long Chengtian has never touched him, and in the past thirteen years, this super fat man has always been the logistics director. Long Chengtian once said publicly at a meeting: "Filling one's own pockets is shameful and incompetent, while waste, lack of discipline and inability to make the best use of one's own pockets are even more shameful and incompetent than filling one's own pockets." What the military cabinet needs is someone who can display their talents and know how to measure. ”

Of course, the incompetent are not qualified to succeed, and the same is true for those who do not know what to do. This big fat man has the ability and knows how to advance and retreat, and he acts in moderation and does not do anything excessive, which is enough. Long Chengtian nodded, expressing his recognition of his work.

Next, the generals reported to him on the arrangement of the attack plan, and at this moment, the elongated voice of the scout came from outside the big tent: "Report ~~~~~~!"

"Come in!" There was some noise in the tent, and Long Yingtian had to shout. The appearance of this third prince is very similar to Long Chengtian, but there is no beard on his chin.

The scout in soft leather armor entered the account, immediately knelt down on one knee and reported his discovery: "General Yu, there are many traps found around the big fence, including poison gas, poison needles, quagmires and snake caves, and our scout brothers have lost five people. It has been proven that there are more than 3,000 defenders and hundreds of monitor lizards and serpents. No other support was found in the vicinity. ”

"Who's in charge there?"

"It's Greyscale himself, with his two sons. ”

"Stand down. Long Chengtian showed a strange expression when he heard this, they had been deep into the barren for eight days, and the gray-scaled people were enough to know the size and route of the invading army, why did they only take 3,000 people to meet the enemy?

Xiao Biwei and Zheng Dahua, the two major staff officers of the army, are both old men in the military cabinet who are over 60 years old, and they have been fighting with them for many years and have rich resumes. Xiao Biwei said: "Gray Scale underestimated the ability of our army to adapt to the swamp, and I didn't expect us to march so quickly, and the losses were very small. The swamp people and the lizardmen were a rabble, not very united with each other, and when they heard that an army of 100,000 was coming, Tai Ban had already fled to the depths of the swamp. In the eyes of the following officials, Gray Scales is just putting on a defensive posture, and will retreat after a little resistance. ”

Zheng Dahua added: "The lower officials think that the gray scales have also determined that the actual difficulties of our army are not small, and it is not suitable for our army to fight here for a long time after taking the big fence. Therefore, Gray Scale does not intend to defend to the death, he will lure our army deeper, or sit back and wait for our army to retreat. ”

It is only a matter of time before the army retreats, and the gray scales can be seen as well. No foreign army had ever been able to stay in the Deep Plain for a long time, so neither the Xianglong Dragon Monarch on the north side of the Swamp nor the Grand Duke of Potts Island on the other side of the Azure Strait could conquer this place.

"I want advice and solutions that are really feasible. Long Chengtian looked at the two old ministers, and the hot and humid weather made him look very manic.

Zheng Dahua said: "Our army marched according to the original plan, and won the big fence tonight to show the prestige of our army, and we can withdraw tomorrow." After returning to Xize, a general can lead 20,000 troops to stay behind, and when he returns to the court, the lord can propose to take Bian Li, and take over the post of provincial governor with the general of our army, and defend the frontier for the lord. ”

Only then did Long Chengtian show a satisfied look, "That's it, according to the original plan, you all are in place, go and prepare quickly, and you must take down the big fence tonight." ”