In the end, the army was scheduled to go out of the victory pass on the thirteenth day of the lunar month.

On the second watch of the same day, His Royal Highness the King of Chu ordered people to kill pigs and sheep, and divide the troops to burn them for the army.

"You just have to kill the enemy at ease on the front line, and the affairs in the rear are all handed over to this king, and you will definitely not let the army go hungry." His Royal Highness the King of Chu toasted to several marquis and generals: "Back then, Zhuge Liang captured Meng Shu seven times in Yunnan, leaving a good story for the ages, and this king also wishes you to capture King Liang alive and not let Wuhou be beautiful!" ”

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, we don't need to drag on for so long, my three armies will attack Yunnan together, and we will be able to destroy this dynasty and play a triumphant song!" After the Marquis of Yingchuan finished speaking, he smiled and said: "Today, His Royal Highness will set up wine and candies for us, and half a month later, the last general will invite His Royal Highness to Kunming for the New Year!" ”

"So confident?" The king of Chu couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Then I will report to the court like this?" ”

"Ah......" Fu Youde's expression tightened when he heard this, and he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "This is what we said in private, and the court still has to be lenient with the enemy." I talk too much, and I'm passive. ”

"Hahaha." Everyone laughed loudly, and the King of Chu personally poured a bowl of wine for Fu Youde and said, "Then according to what the general said, let's pinch this wheel and not report it." However, at the beginning of the first month, the king wants to invite a beautiful woman to go boating in Dianchi Lake, and I hope that the general must be fulfilled. ”

"Your Highness, rest assured, the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner and the first day of the new year boating are all arranged." Fu Youde wiped his sweat and didn't dare to talk nonsense in the future.

"Hehehe, don't be pressured, how to fight." Zhu Zhen smiled again to relieve his pressure. Being a leader has this benefit, and he lets him say all the positive and negative things.

~~

At dawn, the gate of Xiguan slowly opened, and the army marched out of the pass and entered the border of Yunnan.

During the time of waiting for the arrival of the army, the officers and soldiers of the former army had cleared the Yuan army on the right side of the Baishi River to the Shengjing Pass. And set up beacon towers along the way, and sent rangers to patrol them, so as not to let the Yuan army approach the victory pass again.

The army did not encounter the enemy along the way, and after two days, it finally left the endless mountainous area and entered the Qujing Basin.

Seeing that the scenery in front of them suddenly opened up, and there were no longer lofty mountains and mountains blocking their sight, the soldiers couldn't help cheering.

Although I have long known that after passing the victory pass, I will not be far from Wumeng Mountain, but until this moment, the soldiers of the Ming army have the real feeling of returning to the world!

Naturally, the morale was greatly boosted, and without the urging of the officers, the speed of the march was much faster.

That night, they arrived at the north end of Qujing Dam, which was less than 20 miles away from Qujing City.

The Marquis of Yingchuan ordered to set up camp and cook in a pot, so that the soldiers could eat and rest.

At the same time, Xiping Marquis Muying led 4,000 cavalry to quietly leave the large army under the cover of night and rushed to the lower reaches of the Baishi River.

At night, there was a heavy fog on the riverside, and after the Ming cavalry approached the Baishi River, they could only hear the sound of the rushing river, and could not see the situation on the water.

"What's going on?" Qi Xiang followed closely behind Mu Ying, looked up at the sky, and looked around, all of them were thick fog, and he couldn't tell where he was, and he didn't know when it was.

"Don't panic, follow one closely, don't fall behind." Mu Ying said in a low voice: "The fog is beneficial for us to cross the river, we went south along the river, and when we heard the sound of the water slowing down, it means that we have reached the downstream, so we will try to cross the river." ”

This is the reason why he insisted on personally leading the team, otherwise in this situation, the soldiers would inevitably complain, and their combat effectiveness would naturally be greatly reduced. You may even fail to complete the task directly.

He personally led the team, and the soldiers had the backbone. No matter what happens, as long as he doesn't panic, they won't panic.

~~

Xipinghou's words really made the soldiers feel at ease. He nodded silently, followed his comrades in front of him, and walked downstream along the river.

After almost two hours of walking, the sound of rushing water in my ears finally became soothing.

"If you don't go down, just cross the river here." Mu Ying raised his hand to signal the troops to stop advancing and prepare to be the first to go into the water to explore the way.

"Master Hou, let's come with me." Qi Xiang grabbed him and said with a smile: "I'm all this age, I'm still a thousand households, and if I don't show my face, I won't have a chance." ”

"......" Mu Ying knew that Qi Xiang wanted to take risks for herself, but he taught her riding skills, so there shouldn't be any problems, so she nodded and said, "Be careful." ”

"Don't worry. We can survive to this day by being careful. Qi Xiang smiled, and slowly urged the war horse into the river and tried to wade across the river.

The reason why Mu Ying dared to cross the river directly with the cavalry was because Ma was born to swim.

When they enter deep water, they will automatically float due to their large size, but they will not float very high, only exposing the horse's head to the surface and keeping the rest of the body underwater.

But when they fill their lungs, their buoyancy increases, and they can swim even with a person on their backs.

However, because the pressure on the heart and lungs under the water is too great, the time for the horse to swim is relatively short, and the distance cannot be long.

And in the turbulent river, the horse will lose its balance and be swept up by the current. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a section of the river with slow current, and the rider must always control the horse's head and not choke on the water.

Because horses don't hold their breath, if they choke on water, they are likely to panic out of control or even drown.

Mu Ying and the others watched nervously as Qi Xiang had a rope tied around his waist and rode his horse into the cold river water. But one man and one horse quickly disappeared into the thick fog, and only the coil of safety rope was slowly pulled out, indicating that everything was normal.

After some time, the rope was no longer pulled out, and then it shook three times, which was a sign that everything was normal.

Mu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the remaining rope, and said in a low voice: "The river is one hundred and thirty zhang wide, no wonder the water flow will slow down." ”

So 4,000 cavalry lined up and carefully crossed the river along the safety rope.

By the time the last group of cavalry came ashore, I don't know how long had passed.

Mu Yingyue touched it, and it was almost halfway through now. That is, the moon night is long, otherwise the sky would have been bright early.

"But it's almost dawn," he whispered to his subordinates, "or the fog will dissipate at any time after dawn, and if we are discovered, this trick will not work." ”

The soldiers wrapped their horses' hooves in thick felt, and went up the river again at twice the speed.

Finally, an hour later, a mountain range crossed in front of them, and the soldiers were not surprised.

Because this shows that they are not on the wrong path - this mountain by the river is the destination of their trip.

When Mu Ying led the crowd to the top of the mountain, he saw a round of red sun dissipating the dense fog, and Qujing City, Baishi River, and the two armies facing each other across the river were all in full view.

However, Mu Ying did not act immediately, but ordered the banners and gongs brought by his subordinates to be ready, and then rested on the spot, ate some dry food, and waited for the right time.

(End of chapter)