The border town is not big, with only one main street running from north to south, and the rest are all small alleys, winding and narrow, each of which is not spacious.
Now the people have moved to the south, and the north is occupied by military camps. The military camps are very tightly defended, and there are soldiers patrolling every small alley at every moment.
If he wanted to go out of the city, he could only go to the south of the city.
The one hundred guardsmen given to him by Sheng Hong all lived in the post station, but they lived far away from him because his neighbors on the left and right were officials who came with him.
Li Man and the others were separated by a few rooms from him, so they lived fairly close.
Originally, the guards wanted to stand guard in front of his door. Sheng Hong's order to them was to protect his safety no matter what, but he didn't want a door god, so he refused to stand guard in front of his room on the way here.
After coming to the border town, he refused even more thoroughly.
There is a military camp next to the inn, so you feel really safe.
However, the guards did not relax their vigilance and could not stand guard at his door, so they patrolled the yard of the inn.
If he wanted to get out, he had to avoid the patrolling Guards.
Sigh... It's really not easy for him to kill Hu people.
That night, he only slept for an hour so that he could understand the patrol patterns and times of the Guards.
An hour's sleep was enough for him. When he noticed that the official next door was getting up, he got up too.
I'm leaving the city today.
After a simple breakfast, Chang Wuchang came. Yesterday, the barbarians did not cause trouble, did not attack the border town, and did not try to cross the Great Wall quietly.
It was calm yesterday, so we have to be vigilant today.
Therefore, Chang Wuchang hoped that Li Qiao would go to the Great Wall to inspect first and not go north to the junction of the Hu people and Dasheng. If the Hu people suddenly attacked, he was afraid that Li Qiao would be frightened.
Li Qiao readily accepted Chang Wuchang's proposal. Anyway, he had to inspect everywhere, so let's go to the Great Wall first today.
The border town is very close to the Great Wall and can be reached quickly by horse-drawn carriage.
When Qi Shuang saw Li Qiao, his eyes were bright and his face was filled with gratitude.
He ate vermicelli stew last night, it was so delicious!
Although the soldiers standing guard on the Great Wall were facing forward and not squinting, they knew it was Li Qiao who was coming, and they couldn't help but feel grateful in their hearts.
Yesterday’s meat was so delicious!
Thank you, Mr. Li, thank you, Your Majesty!
The defense of the Great Wall is very tight, with one post at five steps and one sentry at ten steps. There is enough firewood in the beacons. If there is a barbarian attack, the soldiers will quickly light the beacons to convey the message.
Li Qiao stayed on the Great Wall for most of the day and did not return to the city until the afternoon.
The Hu people had not caused trouble yet, so Li Qiao took a look at the sky and proposed to take a look at the river in front of the border town.
Chang Wuchang had no objection, so the group headed to the river.
That river is called Calabash River because its shape resembles a gourd.
Many trenches were dug in front of the border town, so Li Qiao could only walk on the way to the Hulu River, and horses and vehicles could not pass smoothly.
The Hu people are all cavalry, and there are only a few ways to deal with the cavalry throughout the ages. Li Qiao walked across the ditch. When he arrived in front of the Hulu River, it was already a little dark.
At this moment, the Hulu River is still covered with ice. The ice layer is very thick and shows no sign of melting.
Relying on this thick layer of ice, the horses of the Hu people could travel unimpeded.
He narrowed his eyes and looked across the river.
The barbarians have not taken action for three days. Are they preparing for a big wave?
Chapter 239 Ice Cracking
The night was dark, and even though Li Qiao had good eyesight, the range he could see was limited.
The Hulu River is more than 40 meters wide, and the river bank is an earth slope more than 30 meters high. His sight is blocked by the earth slope, and he cannot see the scenery behind the earth slope.
It is winter now, and the grass on the slopes is withered.
No, to be precise, there are only a few withered grasses left on the slopes, because there have been too many battles there, and the horses and humans have destroyed the withered grass there.
At the same time, there were soldiers patrolling the nearby river.
There are also soldiers patrolling under the slope on the other side of the river.
According to what Chang Wuchang said, from east to west, with the border city as the diameter, there are soldiers patrolling within thirty miles.
He glanced at the small group of soldiers not far away and sighed in his heart. It was not easy for him to kill a barbarian quietly.
Since it is so difficult to get out of the city, why not use the ice in the Hulu River to kill the barbarians...
He walked forward and soon stepped on the ice of the Hulu River. The ice was so thick that it felt like he was stepping on solid ground. He raised his foot and stamped lightly, but the ice had no reaction.
Chang Wuchang laughed and said, "Brother Li, this ice is very thick. All you have to do is scratch the ice."
Li Qiao suddenly felt a little embarrassed: "Then how thick is this ice?"
"A few days ago, my brothers in the kitchen came over to fish, and it took a lot of effort to break open the ice. It was almost two feet thick, and the Hu people's horses were having fun on it, and the ice was frozen. It’s no big deal.”
Chang Wuchang couldn't stop laughing as he said this, and sighed: "Every time the barbarians attack, I pray, hoping that the ice on the Hulu River will suddenly crack and kill the barbarians, but the result is that it's still freezing to this day!"
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. He couldn't help but lift his foot and stomp hard on the ice.
The next second, an extremely subtle click sounded. The sound was so small that it was almost swallowed up by the whistling cold wind.
But because Li Qiao and Chang Wuchang didn't speak at this time, and Li Man and Chang Wuchang's soldiers stood silent more than ten meters away, so this faint sound still reached Chang Wuchang's ears.
His eyes widened instantly, he looked at Li Qiao with a look of disbelief, and asked in a low voice with some disbelief: "Brother Li, did you hear anything just now?"
Li Qiao also looked surprised and spoke with some uncertainty: "I seem to have heard the sound of ice cracking, but I can't hear it clearly. You are very strong, why don't you stamp your feet again to see?"
"OK!"
When Li Qiao heard the clicking sound, Chang Wuchang almost grinned to the back of his ears. He didn't hear any hallucinations just now!
He quickly stopped laughing, raised his ears, poured strength into his legs, and stamped three times. The clicking sound sounded again, and it was much clearer than before.
Chang Wuchang was excited now. In his ecstasy, he subconsciously reached out to grab Li Qiao's shoulder.
But halfway through reaching out, he suddenly remembered his great strength and hurriedly took his hand back.
His face turned into a smile: "The ice is really showing signs of cracking! Although I am strong, I will definitely not be able to compete with the Hu people's tens of thousands of cavalry. When the time comes for the Hu people to cross the river again, then..."
At this point, the smile on his face froze and his words stopped.
He raised his hand and slapped his forehead fiercely: "I'm so happy, now the ice is showing signs of melting, but by night, it will definitely freeze again!"
It was quite cold in the border town at night, enough to freeze the cracks just now.
"...Yes." Li Qiao also turned from excitement to frowning, but soon he added: "The coldest period has passed, and the temperature will only continue to rise in the future. The ice of the Hulu River cannot bear it. how long."
But Chang Wuchang is not optimistic.
The temperature in the border town has been quite low in recent years. Even after the Lantern Festival, it may snow heavily.
Before this, the Hu people crossing the river felt like walking on flat ground, and Da Sheng's soldiers were not sure how many more casualties they would suffer.
"That's all, let's go back first. Let's come back tomorrow to see how thick the ice is."
"good."
Li Qiao could only agree.
So the two left Huluhe and returned to the city.
There were ditches in front of the border city, which smelled of blood, but they were cleaned very clean. Chang Wuchang ordered people to pick up the arrows, blades, stones, including the ladders and horses left by the barbarians in the battle.
The war was a war of attrition. The Hu people were not good at smelting iron and the iron ore was scarce. After the Hu people consumed these materials, it would be difficult to replenish them. If this goes on for a long time, the overall strength will definitely weaken.
Compared with Dasheng, the Hu people are even less able to fight a protracted war.
It was already dark now, and the torches were blown out several times. There were trenches every few meters. Walking back, Li Qiao's shoes were already full of mud.
Back at the inn, he had a simple dinner and then went to bed.
He will leave the city early tomorrow morning.
He woke up when the first wave of soldiers in the barracks were running for training.
It was only five o'clock in the morning. He quickly got up and took Li Man and fifty Guards members directly to the military camp.
Breakfast is the big pot rice in the military camp, sweet potato and millet porridge, multigrain cakes, and pickles.
After breakfast, before dawn, he and Chang Wuchang left the city.
Chang Wuchang felt quite uneasy. It was quite cold at the moment. The ice must have frozen again, right?
When he came to the river, he deliberately walked to the place where he was last night.
But Li Qiao's ears twitched and his eyes looked towards the bank of the river.
Soon, Chang Wuchang came to the place where he stood last night. He first lightly stamped his feet on the river surface twice, and then said with a sad look on his face: "It must have been frozen, the ice has no reaction at all."
"Try it first."
Li Qiao withdrew his gaze and suppressed the joy in his heart.
At the same time, ten rice-sized water droplets rolled silently along the ice in the east and west directions in the night.
"It's done." Chang Wuchang said and raised his right foot, ready to stomp a few times, but before his foot fell down, Li Qiao suddenly grabbed his sleeve: "Sir! There is a bonfire on the other side!"
Um?
Chang Wuchang's heart trembled, and he no longer bothered to check the thickness of the ice. He hurriedly raised his eyes to look at the shore.
Under the slope of the river, a small bonfire had just been lit. The fire was not very bright, but it was enough to see the bonfire while standing by the river.
His expression suddenly changed, this is the barbarian coming!
He whipped out the saber from his waist, and then pushed Li Qiao back hard: "Brother Li! Go back to the city, go back to the city! Let your guards carry you, hurry up!"
"I don't need guards to carry me, I can walk by myself."
Li Qiao walked back quickly.
