Chapter 248 Canyon Rafting
There are twelve beaches in Qutang, and the roads among them have always been difficult. Everlasting hatred makes people's hearts worse than water, waiting for nothing to make waves. -------"Nine Poems on Bamboo Branches" by Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty
It is said that the Qinglong Army set out from Longnan County and went deep into the mountains at the junction of Yizhou and Liangzhou, trying to find a way to enter the Guangyuan Jiange Plank Road, thereby bypassing the natural dangers of Yangpingguan, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack. The actual situation is just as Chen Long expected. Even with the courage of Ma Chao, Zhang He, and Gao Lan, and the wisdom of Xun You, Xu Shu, and Pan Jun, it would be difficult to open the Yangping Xiong Pass in a short period of time. Hanzhong County, which is well equipped with soldiers and food supplies, is constantly sending all kinds of supplies to the city of Yangping Pass.
Guarding Yangping Pass was Zhang Lu's younger brother Zhang Wei, who was brave, resourceful and knowledgeable. When Ma Teng's army attacked Yangping Pass, Zhang Lu was frightened when he heard about Ma Chao's bravery, and discussed with his younger brother Zhang Wei how to retreat from the enemy. Zhang Wei said: "Brother, don't worry. The most dangerous place in Hanzhong is not as dangerous as Yangping Pass. You can go to the left and right of the pass, surrounded by mountains and forests, and lower more than ten stockades to meet the enemy. Brother is in Hanning, just allocate more grain, grass and baggage to cope with it. "In accordance with Zhang Lu's words, he sent generals Yang Ang and Yang Ren to follow his younger brother Zhang Wei and set off immediately.
Ma Chao and Ma Teng's former troops arrived. They heard that Yangping Pass was ready, so they left the pass for fifteen miles and went to the stronghold. It was night, and the sergeants were tired, so they took a rest. Suddenly a fire broke out behind the stronghold, and two soldiers, Yang Ang and Yang Ren, came to rob the stronghold. Ma Teng and Ma Chao were caught off guard and hurriedly mounted their horses. Hanzhong soldiers were swarming in from all directions. The Xiliang soldiers were defeated and had to abandon the stockade and retreat thirty miles to the village.
The next day, Ma Chao led his troops to the front line and fought to the pass again. Ma Chao saw that the mountain was dangerous and the trees were dense, and he did not know the route. He was afraid that there might be an ambush, so he led his troops back to the stronghold. He said to his father Ma Teng, "If I had known that this place was so dangerous, I would not have raised an army." Ma Teng said, "Soldiers." Now that we are here, what can we do? Are we just waiting for Chen Longbing to arrive? But we are being laughed at. I will wait and see tomorrow."
The next day, Ma Teng mounted his horse and took only his two sons, Ma Chao and Ma Tie, to see Zhang Weizhai's gate. The three horses turned around the hillside and saw Zhang Weizhai gate early. Ma Teng raised his whip and pointed in the distance, and said to his two sons: "The fence is so strong and the cliff is so steep. It's really hard to get down!" Before he could finish speaking, a voice shouted from behind, and arrows shot out like rain. Yang Ang and Yang Ren were killed in two directions. Come. Ma Teng was shocked, and Ma Chao shouted: "Brother Shanbao, father, retreat, wait for me to kill the thief!" After saying that, he drew his spear and rode his horse forward to fight against the two generals. Yang Ang and Yang Ren were also famous generals in Hanzhong, but they tried their best but could not match the bravery of Ma Chao. One against two, they were still killed by Ma Chao with their armor crooked. They had no choice but to turn back and retreat, and the other generals did not dare to move forward. Ma Tie protected his father and ran across the hillside. Another army arrived in front of him. When he looked, it was the Xiliang army that heard the shouts. Ma Xiu hurriedly led the army to kill him and rescued Ma Teng back to the stronghold. Ma Teng saw that the terrain of Yangping Pass was so dangerous, and he was frowning all day long. He could not even touch the city wall. He fought every day, but Zhang Weilai did not see a decisive battle with the Xiliang soldiers.
When they were at a loss, Xun You's troops arrived. The cavalry was useless, and only the crossbowmen were of great use. Just as the follow-up hundreds of thousands of repeating crossbow arrows arrived, Xun You and Xu Shu planned to have the soldiers survey two steep slopes and finally found a cliff that could be climbed. They sent all the repeating crossbows up the cliff with ropes and set them up. Although the shot could not reach the Yangping Pass, it could just hit the several stockade fences set up by Zhang Wei. Arrows rained down every day. Zhang Weibing hid in the camp. He was so frightened that he walked with his shield on his head all day long. Within a few days, they abandoned the stronghold and retreated back to Yangping Pass. The coalition forces of Ma Teng and Xun You finally reached the pass and established a stronghold ten miles away from Yangping Pass.
The mountain road is narrow, and the Xiliang Army and the Qinglong Army blocked the entire road tightly, stretching for dozens of miles. Troops who can forcibly erect aerial ladders can mount dozens of them at the same time if spread out. They have stormed the city wall several times, but they are basically unable to climb the city wall. The aerial ladders are burned or pushed away, and the siege troops are killed or injured. countless.
Xun You made another plan and built a high platform with huge trees in front of the camp, preparing to attack the city with a repeating crossbow again. Unfortunately, the high platform entered the range of the arrows in the city, and the several times the platform was set up were burned down by rockets. Seeing that the platform was not successful, Xun You thought hard and had no choice but to send people to harass the city wall day and night, hoping to use the strategy of wearing down the troops and wait for an opportunity to make a surprise attack.
The siege lasted for more than twenty days, and the battle made no progress. Behind Zhang Wei were supplies and replacement soldiers from Hanzhong. The tired soldiers on the city wall were replaced one after another, and everyone was well fed, well slept, and alive. The battle at Shangyong was also stalemate between offense and defense, and it did not affect Hanzhong's defense of Yangping Pass at all. The entire war seemed to be protracted. Warships shuttled on the Han River, and Samoko's troops were about to join the battle for Shangyong. No one knew whether it would affect the balance of the Battle of Hanzhong.
Chen Long's army, led by the son of the old hunter in Pipa Village, went deep into the mountains to find the source of Wuma Creek. Wuma River flows beside Zhangjia Village, two mountains away. The old hunter and his son personally led the way. The Qinglong Army cut down many trees and vines blocking the road and drove away many ferocious tigers and leopards. Finally we arrived at Wuma Creek. The water surface in this section next to Zhangjia Village is the narrowest, but fortunately it is still gentle. Upstream is a thin waterfall, gushing out from the cliff of the mountain. The old hunter pointed to the waterway and said: "There are many levels of rapids in these mountains. How can a boat travel through a waterfall?" When the soldiers heard this, they all looked at each other. How could such a waterway allow the army to move forward?
Along the way, Chen Long already knew that the old hunter was called Baoweng and his son was called Jinyuka, which are typical Miao name pronunciations. Chen Long asked Jin Yuka: "Jin Yuka, how did the senior you mentioned get out through the waterway?" Jin Yuka obviously didn't know, and looked at the stream and said: "When I came to the stream, I realized that it was impossible for Wuma Creek to get out. I think it’s just a legend.”
The generals were even more frustrated. Unexpectedly, Bao Weng, who had been silent for a long time, said, "That story is true."
One sentence was like clearing the clouds and revealing the sun. Chen Long asked: "Does that senior have a bronze head and iron arms? There are cliffs and waterfalls everywhere here, and you can even fall to your death."
The treasure man sighed and said: "That's why I said it's too dangerous! It's not a path that mortals can take. You'd better go back, General!"
Chen Long said unwillingly: "Hey, old man Baoweng, tell me how the legendary man drifted down the waterway?"
Bao Weng hesitated for a long time and finally said: "I heard that there is a kind of vine on the nearby mountain. It can float when exposed to water. It is very strong. If it is built into a cage, it can be hidden inside and float down the water. The vine is very tough and not easy to break. Make sure you don't get seriously injured in the fall and collision. The rest depends on luck. If you drift into the crevices of the tributary cliffs, there is no guarantee that you will be able to get out of this mountain."
Chen Long was overjoyed, thinking of Zhuge's Tengjia Army who fought bloody battles. They were invulnerable, able to float in water, and had almost no weaknesses except being easily burned by fire. That night, the army camped outside Zhangjiacun. There are only a few hunting families in Zhangjiacun, and they have long since fled without knowing where they are. Chen Long let the old Orion, Zhou Buyi, and the sick and wounded stay, while he and the soldiers set up tents to sleep in the open.
The next day, the entire army was divided into four parts, and they all went up to the surrounding mountains to look for suitable vines. The old hunter took Chen Long and a group of people around in the mountains for four whole days and nights, and finally saw the vines covering the cliff on the edge of a cliff.
Chen Long ordered people to cut off all the vines and bring them all back to Zhangjiacun. The entire cliff, which was originally green, turned into a bare, dark black cliff after a whole day of harvesting. As expected, manpower is endless, and it is quite easy to destroy nature.
The three armies gathered again outside Zhangjia Village. Chen Long took matters into his own hands, cutting off the branches and leaves of the vines and weaving a dense circular cage, revealing only a small entrance and exit for personnel to enter and exit.
In order to prevent people in the vine cages from colliding with each other and injuring themselves, each cage is only large enough for two people. Of course, these two people become the best partners. Chen Long vigorously patted the rattan cage several times to test its strength and toughness. He smiled and said to Zhou Buyi: "Commander, do you have any secrets to tell me on the way?" Zhou Buyi laughed, knowing that his lord had let him and He shares a cage with him to protect himself. Chen Long put two water-resistant cages into cages and threw them into the water for testing. As expected, the cages floated downstream with enough water to expose the head to breathe air. The effect was quite good.
Chen Long gave an order, and the entire army began to select their partners, working in pairs to weave their own rattan cages. Since it was something to protect one's own life, everyone took it very seriously. It took another day to make more than 5,000 rattan cages, and there were still a lot of scraps left all over the ground. Chen Longling threw them all into the river and let them flow down the river. In the future, they may be used to guide the direction of the water flow and avoid falling into the tributary cycle.
Everything was ready, Chen Long thanked Baoweng profusely and said goodbye to Baoweng and Jinyinka. Jinyinka was reluctant to leave. Chen Long promised to come to him as a guide when he entered Sichuan in the future, so Jinyinka reluctantly left. Chen Long's heart moved, he put his serrated dagger into Jinyinka's hand, took some silver coins, and said: "Jinyinka, if you have time, you can go to Longnan Yinxi Village, find your contact person Zhou Tong, and bring this dagger Show it to him, and he will naturally assign you a task. It is a very important task, and you will definitely be able to do it." Jin Yinka said happily: "We have many friends in our village who will work for you in the future." Chen Long comforted him in every possible way. , the two hunters, one old and one young, reluctantly left.
Early the next morning, the army made rice and had a hearty meal. According to Chen Long's estimation, the rafting may last one day and two nights before entering the Jialing River. After that, there are at least four or five days of walking on the plank road, so everyone brought a lot of dry food with them. As for weapons, all long weapons were discarded, and only daggers and crossbows were carried with them. In future wars, they would have to find ways to rob the enemy's military supply depot to replenish weapons.
After everything was ready, Chen Long left the wounded and sick soldiers and another hundred troops to look after the sick and wounded, allowing them to return to Tianshui after recovery. At noon, the sun shone on the stream, and the clear water flowed eastward. The one hundred soldiers who stayed behind pushed all the sepak takraw balls into the water. Gao Shun and Lu Chang's rattan cages were the first to enter the water. Chen Long and Zhou Buyi got into the last sepak takraw ball. The soldiers pushed it into the water. The rattan ball floated steadily and slowly chased the other sepak takraw balls in front.
The shadows of the green mountains slowly retreated from both sides of the bank, and the gaps between the vine cages were filled with water shadows and rocky cliffs. Occasionally, the rattan cage gets stuck on a rock. As long as you put the short knife out of the gap and push it gently, the rattan cage will continue to drift along the water. The cage moves slowly, and if you look up at the blue sky, you can feel a sense of comfort.
The sound of water gradually filled the ears, and a cry of surprise suddenly came from the rattan cage in front of them. In an instant, the rattan cages of Chen Long and Zhou Buyi also quickly spun forward and entered a rapid current. Chen Long signaled Zhou Bujie to hold on to the gap in the vines. He felt the world was spinning. He didn't know how many rounds he went up and down, bumped into many rocks, and turned around in circles. Suddenly, his feet were empty, and he felt weightless. The vine cage had entered. The void, carrying a cloud of water mist, fell towards the deep pool at the bottom of the cliff.
If you want to know what happens next, listen to the explanation next time.
