"Heishuiyu..."
Gao Yingxiang's complexion changed slightly, and alarm bells rang in his heart.
I don't know why this place name made him feel extremely uneasy.
Gao Yingxiang frowned and slowed down involuntarily.
But everyone around him was immersed in boundless joy.
They built roads in the mountains and repaired bridges when encountering rivers. They went through many difficulties and dangers along the way. They had to eat and sleep in the open air along the way. Now they finally walked out of this treacherous road.
At this time, we finally arrived at Heishui Valley, only two hundred miles away from Xi'an City!
The distance of two hundred miles can be reached in two days at a gallop!
"Long live!"
Between the mountain road trestles, I don’t know who shouted first.
"Long live!
! "
Immediately afterwards, other people were also excited. They raised their arms high and shouted.
The deafening cheers echoed in the air on the narrow mountain road, like hundreds of millions of people shouting and roaring at the same time, almost piercing the clouds and cracking the rocks.
Gao Yingxiang looked around at the cheerful soldiers and suppressed the strong uneasiness in his heart.
He knew very well that he could not show any hesitation or uneasiness now.
A general is a courageous soldier. As the commander of an army, he must remain calm even if the mountain collapses. He must remain calm no matter what.
The strong self-control developed over the years has allowed Gao Yingxiang to return to normalcy.
The last section of the journey is relatively open, and the facilities are not as dilapidated as in the middle of the road. The terrain has begun to level out, and it is already possible to ride horses here.
Gao Yingxiang climbed onto the white horse and looked up at the end of the road.
When the dozen guards behind him saw Gao Yingxiang getting on his horse, they also got on the horse together.
In order to ensure that military orders are conveyed smoothly, orderly and executed, the marching queue cannot cover the entire mountain road. There is still a space on the inside for people and war horses to pass.
Gao Yingxiang led the white horse under him along the mountain road, followed closely by a group of personal guards.
"King Chuang!"
Most of the soldiers on the road were still immersed in joy.
But when Gao Yingxiang, riding a white horse and wearing a white robe, entered their field of vision, they quickly sobered up.
"King Chuang!
! "
All the soldiers on the mountain road raised their arms and saluted Gao Yingxiang.
"Long live!
! "
Most of the soldiers were soldiers directly under Gao Yingxiang. For many years, they had followed Gao Yingxiang in the north and south, winning battle after battle and getting rid of one team after another of officers and soldiers.
Gao Yingxiang has always taken the lead, and during the retreat, he also personally led the troops from behind. He has already accumulated huge prestige in the army.
I don’t know when it started, but the light rain that had been pouring had stopped at this time.
The clouds in the sky gradually dispersed.
After the rain, the sky becomes sunny and the color becomes brighter.
Gao Yingxiang rode his white horse forward. He held up the whip in his hand and smiled back at the soldiers who saluted him on the road.
He was briefly upset, but now he has regained his composure.
The food and grass in the army are only enough for two more days, and will soon be exhausted, and it is impossible to return to Hanzhong Mansion.
The path has been set, and now he has no way to turn back.
The road was muddy, making it difficult for the horses to move, not to mention the horses that died at Wangshan.
It was already more than a quarter of an hour later when we reached the turning point of the mountain road.
The marching troops on the mountain road moved forward again. Now the vanguard cavalry, who were just scouts, arrived at Heishui Valley, and most of them were still on the plank road.
Gao Yingxiang glanced at the long marching column behind him.
There were only about two hours left until dusk, and it was probably already dark when the last team left Tangluo Road.
Regardless of whether I want to or not, I'm afraid I can only spend tonight's night in Heishui Valley for the time being.
We walked on Ziwu Road and Tangluo Road for fifteen days in a row.
Especially the last part of the journey was always driven in the rain. As a result, more and more people in the army were sick, and morale was also low.
Now that they have walked out of the Tangluo Road, the morale of the army has recovered a lot. The clouds have dispersed, the rain has stopped falling, and many people are breathing a sigh of relief. At this time, people must rest.
After all, humans are all flesh and blood, not made of iron and steel.
Gao Yingxiang turned around and did not stop on the road behind him.
At this time, we turned around the mountain road, and the Heishui Valley, the exit of the Tangluo Road, was right in front of us.
The original meaning of "yu" is valley, and its extended meaning is the place where valley or canyon begins. Heishui Valley is the entrance to Hanzhong Prefecture from Xi'an Prefecture.
Heishui Valley was called Mang Valley in ancient times. There is Black Dragon Pool in the valley. Legend has it that there is a dragon in the pool. The water is as dark as ink, so it is named "Heishui Valley".
A strong wind blew in the face, blowing up the plain robe Gao Yingxiang was wearing.
The sound of hunting echoed in Gao Yingxiang's ears.
Gao Yingxiang narrowed his eyes slightly and observed everything around him.
This place is on a high point, deep in the Qinling Mountains, with towering peaks and crisscrossing ravines, giving you an unobstructed view.
One side of the road going down to the valley is close to the towering mountain peaks, and on the other side is a cliff hundreds of meters deep. Below the cliff is the river flowing through this place. This water is called black water.
The name of Heishui Valley is derived from this water.
The black water rushes forward, gurgling downward, in sharp contrast to the solemn mountains around it.
At this time, in front of Gao Yingxiang was the last section of the road out of Tangluo Road and into Heishui Valley.
The road is the same as Heishui, going all the way down to the bottom of Heishui Valley.
Blackwater goes all the way down to Blackwater Tanzhong, and the road goes all the way down to the plains in the valley.
The entrance to the valley is in the north-east direction, where the terrain is gentle and flat.
After leaving this valley, we entered the endless plains of Guanzhong.
Except for the valley in the northeast, there are continuous mountains in the rest of the directions. Even the nearest Ma Chao in the northwest is separated by a mountain ridge.
Heishui Valley is actually a small basin, surrounded by mountains, but the center is quite open and the terrain is relatively gentle.
Gao Yingxiang led the war horse slowly down the road.
Although the road goes all the way down, it is not too steep and can be used for driving and horseback riding.
Of course, you must travel on the inside, because there are cliffs on the outside, with a depth of tens of meters, and it is inevitable for people and horses to fall into it.
The front team of the army had already arrived at the Heishui Valley, and the vanguard's cavalry was currently prowling around the entrance of the valley to explore.
Gao Yingxiang felt a little relieved. Everything was calm now and nothing seemed abnormal, which made him feel much more at ease.
Then the news brought by Liu Zhe made Gao Yingxiang even more relieved.
"Reporting to King Chuang, the vanguard reconnaissance cavalry has been stationed in Xianyou Temple, and the residents outside the temple are also controlled by our army."
Liu Zhe led the horse and stood on the inner side of the road, reporting in a deep voice.
Gao Yingxiang raised his head and looked at the Heishui Valley at the foot of the mountain, his eyes slowly sweeping across the entire Heishui Valley.
After the new rain, the valley was empty and fresh. On a slightly higher hill to the south of the center of Heishui Valley, there stood a tall temple.
This temple is Xianyou Temple, a famous temple in Heishui Valley.
In the 18th year of Emperor Wen's reign in the Sui Dynasty, he cultivated immortals and traveled around the palace as a temporary palace.
In the first year of Renshou, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty ordered Tongzhen, an eminent monk from Daxingshan Temple, to send the Buddha's relics to Xianyou Palace in order to house the Buddha's relics, and build a relic pagoda to house it. Yigong was used as the pagoda, and it was renamed Xianyou Temple from then on.
"We have already interrogated the villagers and the monks in the temple, and they did not find anything unusual during this period."
Liu Zhe lowered his head and reported. Gao Yingxiang did not ask Liu Zhe how he interrogated or what methods he used.
Gao Yingxiang knew that the news reported by Liu Zhe was absolutely credible.
"There is nothing wrong inside the Yukou Valley. The vanguard cavalry is investigating the situation outside the valley."
Gao Yingxiang turned around and saw the cavalry traveling outside Xianyou Temple, and the stone in his heart slowly settled.
The uneasy feeling before, I don’t know why it hasn’t surfaced again now.
Gao Yingxiang shook his head slightly and let out a sigh of relief. He felt that maybe he was under too much pressure and worried too much about gains and losses, which made him feel too uneasy.
"We have been walking for fifteen days and encountered continuous rain. The generals in the army must have reached their physical limit."
Gao Yingxiang calmed down, raised his riding whip, pointed at the Xianyou Temple down the mountain and said.
"Order the whole army to set up camp around Xianyou Temple today and repair for a day before leaving Heishui Valley."
"As you command!"
Liu Zhe answered the order loudly with a smile on his face.
Everything is going according to plan. In two days, the troops will arrive at the gates of Xi'an and make immortal achievements. How can we not be excited?
"There is no need to save food and grass today. Just take out all the food and let the sons and daughters open their bellies and indulge a little bit today."
Gao Yingxiang relaxed his tight eyebrows and said.
Gao Yingxiang's military orders soon followed the cavalrymen running back and forth, and were passed down from level to level, making them known to everyone.
For a moment, deafening cheers resounded across the mountain path again.
…
As the sun sets slowly towards the west, it sets between the mountains.
A huge camp with Xianyou Temple as the center has been built. The camps are overlapping and seem chaotic, but in fact they are orderly.
Although Gao Yingxiang was not born in the frontier army, he had fought for many years, and most of his elite troops were soldiers from the frontier army in Yulin, Guyuan and other towns. They were already familiar with things like setting up camps and marching in formation.
In terms of some details, Gao Yingxiang may not be as good as the generals of the Ming Army today, but when it comes to the ability to command large corps in combat, none of the generals of the Ming Army today can match Gao Yingxiang.
After all, the military attaches in the late Ming Dynasty, even if they were the general soldiers of a town, they would only lead a battalion of thousands of soldiers and horses. It was amazing that they had several generals and reinforcement battalions and guerrilla battalions led by guerrillas as support. In total, they had 10,000 people. Less than.
In battles involving tens of thousands or tens of thousands of people, civil servants are basically in command and supervise the divisions.
As the sun slowly set, everywhere in Heishui Valley quickly fell into darkness.
The animals and birds in the mountains also returned to their dens and became less lively. The sounds in the mountains and forests slowly disappeared and became silent.
But inside and outside Xianyou Temple, the lights were brightly lit and there was still a lot of people.
The light of lanterns fills the inside and outside of Xianyou Temple. Looking down from the top of the mountain, it looks like a brilliant star.
There was a commotion in the army camp.
But in the central area of Xianyou Temple, it was extremely quiet.
On top of the towering Drum Tower, Gao Yingxiang, wearing a plain robe, stood leaning on the railing.
There were no lights on the Drum Tower, and no one followed Gao Yingxiang.
All the guards were guarding Gao Yingxiang under the Drum Tower.
At this time, only Gao Yingxiang was standing on the Drum Tower.
From the top of the Drum Tower, you can have a panoramic view of most of the Heishui Valley.
The sky was filled with large expanses of fiery red clouds.
The sun in the distance only showed the last half of its face.
The sun is not as dazzling as it is at noon and cannot be looked directly at.
In fact, this is not the first time Gao Yingxiang has come to Heishui Valley.
This is the second time he has arrived in the Blackwater Valley.
The first time was in the eighth year of Chongzhen's reign. At that time, he had already visited Heishui Valley to explore the terrain.
The first place he went to was Ziwu Pass, and then Heishui Valley...
Gao Yingxiang glanced at the setting sun, then looked back at the main hall of Xianyou Temple behind him.
This ancient temple has experienced thousands of years of wind and frost, been affected by wars several times, and has witnessed countless sunrises and sunsets.
Gao Yingxiang circled around, carefully observing the surrounding terrain while the sun had not yet set and he could still see the surroundings clearly.
Senyuji Temple is located in the southern part of the plains. The surrounding terrain is quite flat, and Senyuji Temple is at the highest point.
The black water flowing through the Heishui Valley comes from the south, turns a U-shaped bend around the Xianyou Temple, and then flows northward out of the valley mouth.
From the perspective of a military strategist, the location of Xianyou Temple is an important location that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Time continued to pass, and the sun completely disappeared among the mountains.
Darkness swept in from all directions, and the whole world suddenly became dark.
The originally magnificent and majestic temple gradually began to become a bit eerie after darkness fell at night. I don't know why.
Gao Yingxiang slowly closed his eyes.
He is at a loss as to everything that is going on in Xi'an Mansion today.
Just hope everything goes as planned.
Life and death have destiny, wealth and honor are in heaven.
He has done his best, and the rest will be left to fate...
…
"As expected from the military gate, the rogue bandits have entered the Heishui Valley and entered the Tunxianyou Temple."
Li Yuchun, wearing a red arrow suit, walked quickly into the tent and said excitedly.
"No reward was collected at night. I saw a large group of bandits stepping out of the Tangluo Road and entering the Heishui Valley. There were more than 30,000 soldiers on foot and cavalry. Among the troops, I saw five battalion flags and Gao Yingxiang's purple banner. Listed."
Li Yuchun clenched his fist and waved suddenly.
Sun Chuanting sat at the head of the table, and Li Yuchun's return did not affect his mood.
He was still calmly clasping his hands behind his back, facing away from everyone, and staring at the map in front of him.
Everything has just begun, the decisive moment has not yet come, nothing can be taken lightly.
…
There was darkness in the Tangluo Road.
Chen Wang stood on the mountain road, staring at the brightly lit military camp at the foot of the mountain.
He didn't say anything, but slowly tightened the Yan Ling knife at his waist.
Chen Wang raised his head and looked toward the darkness further away.
He knew very well that the Qin army led by Sun Chuanting was hidden among the rolling mountains.
The mountain wind roared, passing over Chen Wang's body and passing over the mountain road.
Just behind Chen Wang, a group of soldiers were all ready to go, with murderous intent.
People have titles and horses have their mouths tied.
They are ready for everything.
