In late autumn and September, the forests in the Northeastern China are all dyed, and the mountain colors paint a beautiful picture, gradually unfolding from north to south.
The surface of the Cuiha River is different from the factories that grew up in later generations due to the Industrial Revolution. At the end of the 14th century, this place was still an undeveloped virgin forest with overlapping mountains.
In this season of strong autumn, the primeval forests are falling leaves one after another. The golden leaves fall silently, making a graceful dance in the air, and the ground is golden...
"rinse"
Suddenly, there was more than one sound of fallen leaves being trampled to pieces.
Looking carefully, in this valley, a team is heading north along the river, with nearly a thousand people.
They did not display their flags, but all wore cotton-filled red fat coats and breastplates, and were accompanied by one or two horses.
They unsaddled the tall and strong horses to lighten the load, and hung a lot of cargo on the short and sturdy horses. The sun shone brightly.
A set of bright armor was carried on the back of the horse, along with bags of grain and the saddle of the war horse.
"It's getting cooler here. In half a month, winter will probably begin."
Among the team, Zhu Gaoxu, who was breathing the cool and fresh air, couldn't help but sigh. He led Chi Huan and walked side by side with the soldiers and horses, accompanied by the natural wonders along the way.
Looking around, the autumn colors of the mountains and forests are rich in layers under the sunlight, covering the mountains and plains, which is spectacular. They set off each other with the gurgling streams, forming a beautiful autumn landscape.
The rolling mountains in the distance have long lost their rich yellow color in early autumn, leaving only countless bare trees.
Looking up at the transparent blue sky, it is as blue as a wash, vast and high...
"Bah!"
The neighing of the goshawk brought Zhu Gaoxu's thoughts back to his eyes. A bit of cold wind blew from the other side of the mountain, making him unable to help but sigh that winter in this era had come so quickly.
"It's almost two days away."
Fu Rang came forward with a map and pointed to a location for Zhu Gaoxu to see.
Zhu Gaoxu looked at the location, then at the sky, then squatted down and touched the dead leaves on the ground: "It shouldn't rain or snow in the past two days, which is just right for us to make a raid."
Fu Rang nodded in agreement, but at this moment Yi Shiha and Zhang Chun came over to bow:
"Your Highness, brothers haven't started the cooking for three days and have been eating dried fish and meat. Do you want to start the cooking tonight? Anyway, we are still a hundred and twenty miles away. The old slave shouldn't notice."
"No!" Fu Rang wanted to refuse, but Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to stop him, and then asked Zhang Chun:
"Are all the brothers going to dig smokeless stoves?"
"It's all done, otherwise we wouldn't come to His Highness." Zhang Chun nodded frequently, but Fu Rang looked confused after hearing this: "Smokeless stove?"
"A few days ago, I taught my brothers a method of digging a stove. This method is very suitable for the army and will not expose too much smoke. Don't worry."
Zhu Gaoxu explained to Fu Rang, and then signaled Zhang Chun to arrange for the army to dig out smokeless stoves.
With his permission, Zhang Chun and Yi Shiha began to prepare.
The thousand soldiers responsible for the raid have all received Zhu Gaoxu's smokeless stove training. Not only the smokeless stove training, but also many trainings passed down from the armies of later generations.
In the place where Zhu Gaoxu served in his previous life, the mountain roads were rugged and the mountains were high and the forests were dense. Daily training consisted of border patrols. In places where field cooking vehicles could not go, Zhu Gaoxu and the others were required to use smokeless stoves to be self-sufficient. These things were also handed over to Zhu Gaoxu. The brother of the Bohai Navy.
Under his watch, about twenty brothers from the Bohai Navy began to clear dead branches and leaves in the forest, and then began to select sites to dig smokeless stoves.
Smokeless stoves have strict requirements and must be concealed and ventilated. Without ventilation, smoke will be everywhere.
When digging, the main flue and branch flues must be dug.
There are one or two main flues. The more branch flues, the longer and more dispersed the better. It is best to cover them with wet branches and turf.
Normally, you first dig a large pit that is more than two feet square and about two feet deep, and then dig a small pit next to it.
This large pit should be as convenient as possible for users to add fuel such as firewood to the small pit next to it.
Dig a smaller pit about a foot away from this pit, and then penetrate the two holes from the bottom. Pile all the excavated soil around the first hole and pat it firmly to prevent the fire from leaking out.
Dig at least three flues extending back above the second hole, each about half a foot deep and about one foot long. Then place the pot on the second hole and fill the sides with soil. Above the flue Cover it with branches, wheat straw and the like, and cover it with soil.
Hide the flue according to the method of keeping the sides of the pot close and sparse, and put the fire starter from the bottom of the first pit into the second pit.
When the soldiers were making smokeless stoves, Zhu Gaoxu looked back and forth and made sure they were correct before letting them light the fire for cooking.
Not long after, ten large pots were placed on the smokeless stove. After the firewood was lit, the soldiers went to the valley to get water and poured it into the pots. They began to put the steamers they carried with them into the pots, and then spread them with white cloth and military ration rice.
In just one word, the military grain rice that had been dried and compressed many times had expanded to its original appearance.
Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand and took a bite. Although the rice had no rice flavor due to being dried and compressed many times, you can't ask for too much when marching and fighting.
"Let's cook." He turned around and ordered, and Zhang Chun also started running back and forth to inform.
Pour sun-dried wild fruits and vegetables into the pots of steamed rice water cups. In each pot, put a foot-long vinegar cloth, one or two soybean oil and a salt crystal the size of a fingernail, as well as small dried fish that you carry with you.
With the spatula flipping back and forth, the pot of boiled vegetables was ready in less than a quarter of an hour.
Although the preparation method is simple and crude, and the taste is not that good, for Zhu Gaoxu and others who have been eating dried meat and flour cakes for many days of marching, this meal can completely heal the grievances they have suffered during the march.
Everyone uses the bowls and chopsticks they carry with them to serve the rice in small flag units. Each bowl of rice, soup and vegetables adds up to almost a pound and a half.
This is already an extremely rich dinner for everyone who marches more than sixty miles every day.
Even if some people consume a lot and don’t have enough to eat, there is nothing they can do about it.
Zhu Gaoxu accompanied everyone to finish the hot meal. After everyone finished eating, he ordered people to withdraw the branches from the flue and put them into the stove pit. He took the lead and the soldiers to fill back the soil next to the stove pit and compact it. Fill the flue, and then find some new soil or vegetation from the side to restore its original topography.
After such operations, there were basically no traces of the original traces, and they started on their way after a quarter of an hour's rest.
In this era without smog and industrial pollution, even at night, the moon hanging in the sky is enough to light the way forward for the team.
Night blindness generally does not exist in the Bohai Navy. After all, Zhu Gaoxu spends a lot of money on food and drink.
While traveling day and night, at dusk on the fifth day of September, Zhu Gaoxu and the others saw the Songhua River and the Buyanzhai Fort standing on the other side of the Songhua River.
"About three miles away, they have a post on the south bank. If we go out from here, we will be discovered even at night."
At dusk, Zhu Gaoxu took Fu Rang and more than 20 people to the mountains on the south bank of the Songhua River, overlooking the terrain of Buyanzhai Fort from a high position.
Buyanzhai Fort is located in the north of Songhua River. Although Xiyang Ha did not have enough sentries, he arranged sentry posts in the south of Songhua River and about three miles away from Buyanzhai Fort.
These outposts were made of stone and had no access doors. People who wanted to go up had to be hoisted up in hanging baskets.
The mountain range Fu Rang brought him to was five miles away from where they were currently camping, and about two miles away from the Songhua River.
The Songhua River in this era had not yet broken out as many shoals as in later generations, so the river channel was wider. Zhu Gaoxu estimated that the section of Buyanzhai Fort was probably no less than two miles.
"We have to find another place to cross the river." Zhu Gaoxu looked at Fu Rang who was standing aside. Fu Rang also nodded and said:
"More than ten days have passed since the road was explored earlier. I'm not sure whether Xiyangha has stationed a new outpost. When I came here just now, I sent people to look at it. As long as there is one in the two previously explored waterways, There is no outpost on one of them, so we can cross the river tomorrow and raid Xiyang Ha the day after tomorrow."
"Okay..." After hearing what Fu Rang said, Zhu Gaoxu bowed his body and led the people away, leaving only a dozen people behind Fu Rang to observe Xiyang Ha's movements.
As the sun sank into the mountains, many bonfires were lit in Buyanzhai Fort, and Zhu Gaoxu also led people back to the mountain col where they were stationed.
They had prepared enough deerskin rafts that could be blown up to escort them across the river.
As if they were aware of the impending war, many Jiangnan soldiers who had never been to fight in Nanjing City were somewhat silent. Upon seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu went up with Yishuha and enlightened them one by one.
After a long time, they settled down a little, and Zhu Gaoxu himself found a dirt pit and sat in it, waiting for news from Fu Rang.
The late night autumn wind blew everyone, but fortunately the blankets they wore could provide them with enough warmth.
Compared with them, Xiyang Ha in Buyanzhai Fort was singing and dancing.
In the stone castle inside Muzhai Castle, dozens of girls held hands and sang with stiff expressions.
Beside the bonfire, the owner of Xiyangha, the land of Wuyewu, took his wives and concubines to sing and dance. They were celebrating this year's autumn harvest.
Thanks to the fact that the Songhua River did not flood this year, Buyanzhai Fort harvested more than 6,000 shi of grain. This grain, combined with the grain they had previously snatched from the tribes who submitted to Jilin City, was enough to sustain them through this winter.
Xiyang Ha danced very happily, but one of his sons came forward and seemed to have something to say.
Seeing this, Xiyang Ha withdrew from the bonfire dance and wiped the sweat from everywhere on his fat body with linen cloth after coming out.
"Amma, there is news from the Six Cities. Jilin City in the south is preparing boats to transport food to the Six Cities. They have also built their own ferry crossings at each ferry outside the city."
"Amma, do you think they are coming for us?"
"Shurha, don't worry." Xiyangha threw the linen cloth with his sweat on a captured woman from another tribe. He looked at the woman cleaning it up with a twisted smile on his face.
"The grain harvest has been finished. Your eldest brother and others have taken people to Hu Lawen City. We will set off in a few days. I will have left long ago by the time that kid from Jilin City comes."
Xiyangha grabbed the slave girl's clothes, pulled her into his arms, stretched out his hand to explore, his face twisted:
"These Han people come to attack us along the Songhua River every time, but they don't know that the further downstream they go, the more icy places there will be."
"This time it's the same as before, we were already gone before they set off."
Before he could finish speaking, Xiyang Ha impatiently carried the slave girl and walked towards the stone house not far away.
What Xiyang Ha didn't know was that when he was preparing to move, the Bohai Navy also started moving.
No accident occurred. The road Fu Rang had previously explored did not contain any Sentinels from Buyan Village Fort.
After learning the news, Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Rang arranged for the soldiers to have a simple cold meal, and then set off in a detour, preparing to cross the river from a shoal ten miles downstream of Buyanzhai Fort.
As the order was issued, a thousand men and horses immediately moved downstream, chopped down many small trees in the forest, fixed the small trees into wooden rafts with hemp ropes and tenons, and then blew up the deerskin bags against the biting river wind. , tightly tied to the raft.
After confirming that it was secure enough, Zhu Gaoxu ordered all the tribes to start taking a rest. He waited until 5:00 a.m. before he woke up Fu Rang and others and ordered the tribes to start crossing the river.
At six o'clock in the Yin hour, the whole army officially crossed the river.
The Songhua River was still cold at this time, and more than a dozen deerskin rafts were constantly escorting people and horses back and forth. Thanks to the fact that the military households in Jilin City were all from the coastal areas of Shandong and Jiangnan before the border was guarded, even if someone occasionally fell into the water, there would be no danger. As for being swept away directly by the Songhua River.
From the sixth quarter of the Yin hour until the sky dimmed at the fourth quarter of the Mao hour, Zhu Gaoxu and the others raced against time to cross the river.
Even though the shoal is only one mile wide, it is still too far away for these 1,000 people and more than 1,400 horses.
In particular, horses are not as good as people. A raft can carry more than a dozen people across the river, but it can only support the transport of three horses.
The horses seriously slowed down the Bohai Navy's speed in crossing the river. In desperation, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Fu Rang:
"Leave fifty brothers and draft horses on the south bank, and the army and horses will cross the river first."
"Okay!" Soldiers are very fast, and Fu Rang also knows that it is impossible for everyone to successfully cross the river tonight. Seeing that the sky is starting to get brighter and there is a possibility of being discovered at any time, he can only agree to Zhu Gaoxu's suggestion.
With the cooperation of the two men, 467 military horses and Chi Huan were sent to the north bank, and 950 soldiers also arrived at the north bank.
The remaining fifty soldiers were arranged by Zhu Gaoxu to withdraw to the mountain col twenty miles to the south. No rescue was allowed without any news.
Soon, fifty soldiers connected the draft horses with reins and led more than 900 draft horses to retreat.
“What to do with these rafts?”
After crossing the river, Fu Rang asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu said directly in front of the surrounding soldiers: "Push them all into the Songhua River and scuttle them!"
"Scuttling?!" Fu Rang was slightly surprised. He didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to have such confidence to sink the boat.
However, he was only slightly surprised. After a while, he arranged for someone to push the raft into the Songhua River, poked a hole in all the deerskin bags, and watched with his own eyes as they floated towards the center of the Songhua River and then sank into the water.
Seeing that the raft was being scuttled, Zhu Gaoxu, like many soldiers, started to walk toward the northern mountains and forests, carrying his own armor, military rations, and saddles, leading his war horse.
Before leaving, Zhu Gaoxu took a look at the messy river beach, reached out and grabbed Fu Rang: "We have to leave someone to clean up these traces."
"Traces?" Fu Rang looked back at the messy river beach and seemed to think that Zhu Gaoxu was a little too vigilant:
"It won't take long for these traces to be washed away by the river, so we don't have to worry about it."
"Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the worst. Let people carry a big pot and wash all the way to the river beach, washing away all the footprints." Zhu Gaoxu did not agree with Fu Rang's words this time, but insisted on solving the traces of the river beach.
Seeing this, Fu Rang did not hesitate, but readily obeyed Zhu Gaoxu's arrangement, and finally sighed: "Who made you the King of Bohai?"
This was a bit of a joke, and Zhu Gaoxu was not angry after hearing this. He punched him casually, almost making Fu Rang look at him with a blank stare.
After rubbing his chest and taking a breath, Fu Rang walked towards the forest with Zhu Gaoxu.
The place where they rested was in a mountain called Daheishan by the Jurchens.
The mountains that stretch for more than ten miles are more than enough to hide their less than a thousand people.
Fu Rang found a mountain col for the army, and there was a natural cave next to it.
After Zhu Gaoxu arrived here, he instinctively began to check the surroundings. After finding that it was indeed not easy to be discovered, he found an open space and lay down.
Even though his eyes were closed, he was still thinking about how to win at the minimum cost.
Gradually, an idea came into his mind, but compared with this idea, his physical exhaustion made him fall into a drowsy sleep.
Time passed, and before going to the battlefield, Zhu Gaoxu dreamed of himself in his previous life.
At that time, he was clamoring about what would happen to him if there was a war...
Suddenly, the scene changed and he suddenly appeared on the battlefield. Bullets were flying everywhere. Before he could express himself, he leaned back and fell down on the muddy battlefield.
"Wake up..."
The dream was interrupted by Fu Rang's voice. Zhu Gaoxu opened his eyes suddenly, and Fu Rang probed his forehead with his hand: "Fortunately, there is no wind and cold..."
His tone was a bit lucky, but Zhu Gaoxu sat up.
The autumn wind was blowing all around, and when he looked closely, it was already completely dawn, and his forehead was slightly cool.
He stretched out his hand to test, but there was a lot of cold sweat on his forehead. He was obviously frightened by the dream just now.
"I thought you were sick, you kept sweating."
Fu Rang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhu Gaoxu was fine. However, Zhu Gaoxu wiped his sweat randomly and looked up at the sky.
"Don't look at it. It's only six-quarter noon now. You only slept for two and a half hours. You should lie down for a while."
Fu Rang patted him, then stood up and returned to his position to lie down and rest.
However, Zhu Gaoxu was frightened by the nightmare just now, so he was not sleepy at all.
He got up and walked around the camp, and saw soldiers sleeping in a twisted shape in the forest.
After a round of inspection, he walked deeper into the col and saw a group of army horses grazing in the col.
Zhu Gaoxu found Chi Huan, fed it two handfuls of beans and a pot of water, and let it rub on him.
After doing all this, he returned to the camp and waited quietly for nightfall.
Originally, he thought that the battle would take place at night, but his suspicion was interrupted by a group of soldiers running from a distance.
Picking up the stone, he threw it next to Fu Rang. The sound of the stone hitting the side immediately woke up Fu Rang, Yi Shiha, Zhang Chun and others.
They opened their eyes in confusion and subconsciously touched their weapons.
"Your Highness, Buyan Village Fort has opened the gate to the east of the fort, and many small boats have been lifted out of it. They seem to be heading downstream."
The flag officer came to Zhu Gaoxu to bow and report. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu asked in thought: "Have you seen clearly how many people there are? Did the forts be moved, or only some people came out."
"It should be part of it. It's too far away and brothers can't see it clearly." The little flag official reported nervously.
"Go explore again and record their number, especially the number of males."
Fu Rang was already awake at this time, and he gave orders to the flag officer. Afterwards, he suddenly realized that he was overestimating the guest, and he quickly bowed to Zhu Gaoxu and used his honorific title: "Your Highness, this old slave must have heard the news from upstream and thought that we Prepare to go down the river to attack him."
"If he really thinks so, we don't need to capture the city, but can set up an ambush in the river valley to ambush this old slave!"
Fu Rang was very excited, and the soldiers who were woken up around him also smiled when they learned what happened.
Siege, no matter what era it is placed in, is the way of fighting that harvests the most lives from the attacking soldiers.
If Xiyang Ha really left Jilin City, then they would not need to attack the city, but could fight him in the river valley.
In the field battle, everyone present has extreme confidence in the Bohai Navy's field battle.
"hope so……"
Zhu Gaoxu didn't hold out much hope because he knew that Xiyang Ha and the others did not have that many ships and could not move all the more than 20,000 people in Buyan Village Fort.
Instead of striking his brothers, he waited for the news to come back.
As the sun set in the west, it was already three o'clock in the morning when the new team returned from Butang, and Zhu Gaoxu and the others were already ready, even the armors were taken and placed beside them, ready to wear them at any time.
"Your Highness, only some people went downstream. We took a look and found that the team was a mile long and contained at least five thousand people. They were basically old, weak, women and children, and there were only about seven hundred men wearing leather armor."
"They brought thousands of cattle, horses and sheep with them, and more than 2,000 cattle carriages loaded with things covered with grass. There were also more than a hundred 23-foot small boats in the water. They were probably either grains or other valuable things."
When the little flag officer said these things, his eyes almost glowed, as if he was asking Zhu Gaoxu if he wanted to take action.
Not only him, but also Zhang Chun, Yi Shiha and others who were listening next to him had their eyes shining.
"Gao Xu..." Fu Rang called out Zhu Gaoxu's name. Apparently he was not calm either and seemed to have forgotten what the goal of this battle was.
In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu did not blame them for being wavering, because even he was confused for a moment.
The food for thousands of cattle, horses and sheep and two thousand cattle and carriages can be said to be worth no less than two hundred thousand guan.
He, Zhu Gaoxu, only earned hundreds of thousands of dollars after working hard for most of this year. Now he can suddenly get a year's income out of thin air, and he also has thousands of cattle, horses and sheep. If Zhu Gaoxu didn't know that he must hit Xiyang Haha hard this year, I'm afraid At that moment, he couldn't help but take action.
“Play the long game and catch the big fish!”
Zhu Gaoxu resisted the temptation to take action immediately, because his goal this time was to kill Xiyang Ha or severely injure Xiyang Ha, so that he could safely go with Daning to attack the three guards of Wuliang Ha next year.
However, it is not his character not to eat the meat when it comes to his mouth.
"Surround the area for reinforcements..."
Almost immediately, the book written by a great man of later generations appeared in Zhu Gaoxu's mind... "Besieging a city and calling for reinforcements is one of the important methods of annihilating the enemy."
Rather than going to attack the city bravely, attracting the main force of Xiyang Ha from Buyanzhai Fort, and then expanding the results is the most correct way at the moment.
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu gritted his teeth and looked at the flag officer: "What's the marching speed of the team?"
"They have many livestock, and they can cover more than three miles in a quarter of an hour. It is estimated that they can cover twenty-seven or eight miles in an hour."
"Twenty-seven or eight miles..." Hearing the opponent's speed, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Fu Rang:
"You take six hundred people and go ten miles downstream to set up an ambush. I will take the rest and continue here."
"You think..." Fu Rang was trained by Fu Youde after all. He immediately thought of the military strategy of "attack him and save him". Obviously, Zhu Gaoxu wanted not only the cattle and horses, but also Xiyang Ha's head.
He did not continue because he knew time was running out: "Zhang Chun!"
"Here!" Zhang Chun responded subconsciously, looking at Fu Rang expectantly. Fu Rang also gritted his teeth and said: "All five hundred infantry and one hundred cavalry!"
"Yes!" After hearing Fu Rang's words, Zhang Chun turned around and went to make arrangements. Fu Rang looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a bit of worry in his eyes: "Be careful of Xiyang Ha's sentinels."
"Don't worry." Zhu Gaoxu smiled and signaled him to leave, but Fu Rang glanced at Yi Shiha: "Yizhangyin, you have to take good care of His Highness."
"Commander Fu, don't worry. Even if I risk my life, I will still protect His Highness." Yi Shiha puffed up his chest. Although he was not a man, he was more of a man than ordinary men.
Seeing this, Fu Rang patted Zhu Gaoxu's shoulders and turned away with a heavy feeling.
Looking at his leaving figure, Zhu Gaoxu grasped the heavy iron mace at his waist and glanced at the remaining cavalrymen.
"A real man will make a contribution today!"
(End of chapter)
