Xiazhou River is a river that meanders northward into the Yellow River, with a length of about 170 miles.
It merges into the Yellow River about 20 miles south of Lingzhou, where the Xiangqing Army is stationed. After that, it goes a hundred miles north along the Yellow River and reaches Huaizhou.
Fifty miles west of Huaizhou is Xingqing Mansion.
Today, Gao Zhang has a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses of the Forbidden Army under his command, and nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Western Army.
At this moment, everyone gathered on the bank of the frozen Lingzhou River.
At this moment, strangely modified vehicles have been pushed onto the ice.
It was a car with two long crossbars attached to the bottom that were close to the ice. Only two people could easily push the car on the ice.
When it comes to landing, you only need to remove the two slightly tilted crossbars at both ends, and the vehicle can continue to travel on the ground using its wheels.
These exquisite and highly creative vehicles, after asking the generals of the Forbidden Army, it turned out that as expected, they were all handmade by the young and handsome men.
#####
Gao Zhang looked at his outfit. He had taken off his purple official uniform and replaced it with a military coat and a snow cap.
There was still a package on his back, and he was still wearing a pair of knee-length felt boots on his feet, and a pair of thick cotton gloves with fingerless fingers on his hands.
The front half can be slapped open, making it easier to use your fingers to do some fine movements.
There were also leggings under those felt boots. At this moment, Gao Zhang's attire was no different from that of a group of Imperial Guardsmen and Western Army uniformed soldiers.
"Commander, do you really want to walk with us?"
"Stop talking nonsense, get ready to go, target Xingqing Mansion!"
Gao Zhang gave a low drink, and then put on a cotton mask, so that every breath of air would not be so cold and cold.
Since ancient times, there have been many examples of marches through glaciers, but they were all across glaciers.
There has never been any talk of using frozen rivers as a shortcut for marching.
Gao Zhang really set a precedent by doing this.
And Gao Zhang dared to do this, which was the confidence that had been repeatedly tested by the capable detectives of the Imperial City Division and the personnel of Duan's Trading Company.
Song Jun himself didn't even think of it, let alone the Xixia people?
Gao Zhang, the youngest commander in the Song Dynasty, stepped onto the glacier and began to walk forward.
Countless soldiers of the Song Dynasty also followed Gao Zhang's footsteps, taking off their felt boots wrapped in thick cloth and walking on the smooth mirror-like Lingzhou River as if they were walking on flat ground.
Zhong Shidao and Liu Zhongwu each led more than 5,000 cavalry, one on the east bank and the other on the west bank.
Looking at the tens of thousands of infantry, they were like a long winding snake. After stepping onto the ice, they also started to move their mounts and gallop forward.
Gradually, the wind and snow gradually wiped out the traces of this army's stay under the white snow.
Marching is always difficult, especially marching in such wind and snow, it is even more difficult.
However, the young Privy Councilor who signed the same contract, a bachelor of Hanlin, and the Deputy Envoy of Shaanxi Road Economic Strategy, was walking at the front, so what else could anyone complain about?
Gao Zhang stopped from time to time to cheer for the soldiers marching along the ice.
When the soldiers saw that the coach Gao Zhang actually used his feet to measure the distance from Da Song Dynasty to Xingqing Mansion like them.
There were no more complaints in their hearts, everyone gritted their teeth and moved forward.
Moreover, walking along the smooth ice, there were cavalry on both sides to cover the flanks, which minimized the possibility of falling behind and getting lost.
Moreover, walking along the smooth ice, there were cavalry on both sides to cover the flanks, which minimized the possibility of falling behind and getting lost.
On a high slope more than ten miles away from the main army's overnight stop, more than ten scouts wearing white cloaks were looking around on the high slope with telescopes.
"How's it going? Did you find anything?"
"Over there, Chief, look over there..."
One of the scouts put down his telescope, pointed in a direction and shouted loudly.
At this time, everyone saw the very eye-catching tree that had just been stripped of its bark.
"Quickly, cut it down!" The leader of the scout cavalry looked happy and urged the brothers to rush to the bottom of the big tree and picked up a short ax to chop it down.
In less than Zhu Xiang's time, the tree as thick as a bowl finally fell crookedly.
It was not until this time that several horses came galloping from a distance, all dressed as party members.
However, they all spoke fluent Guanzhong accent and got the code.
Under the leadership of the other party, the group came to a deep ditch more than ten feet away from the adjacent river bank.
"Following the instructions from the top, the fuel is buried here, totaling 100,000 kilograms of coal, and there are also 300 sheep that have been slaughtered and processed..."
When Liu Zhongwu arrived with his cavalry, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the 100,000 kilograms of coal and 300 sheep.
"Come here, hurry up and send the message. We have arrived at Camp No. 1. Liu will be on guard here, waiting for the main force of the army to arrive."
"You spread out and explore the surrounding area for twenty miles."
"Here!"
#####
When the sky started to get dark, Gao Zhang, who was exhausted physically and mentally, hungry and cold, finally arrived at the No. 1 supply camp.
Here, with the help of Dongxue, the channels of Duan's trading company and the ability of Huangcheng Division, a pretty good camping ground was selected.
And there is enough fuel and fat sheep stored here.
The sleds accompanying the army not only had tents, but also portable iron stoves.
Ignite the firewood and throw it into the furnace, wait until the flames are high, and then add coal. Soon, the iron stove will warm the bodies of the surrounding soldiers.
On top was a large pot filled with snow water. The chopped mutton was thrown into the pot and began to simmer.
Each soldier held a copper bowl in his hand, staring directly at the pot of mutton soup.
From time to time, he would put his hand into a cloth pocket in front of him and take out a ball of flour-like powder. He would either stuff it into his mouth and sip it, or throw it into the copper bowl in his hand.
This powdery substance was the military ration prepared by Gao Zhang for this march.
To put it simply, it is wheat, peas, soybeans, and some tea leaves, mixed with sugar, salt, and fried and ground meat floss.
Although this stuff is not as good as the standard military rations of later generations, it is far better than the uncooked rice and cooking cakes of this era.
After all, in terms of portability, this kind of powder is easier to carry, and a long grain belt can hold almost ten kilograms of fried noodles. It can be tied directly to the body without affecting movement at all.
The inspiration naturally comes from the early military rations of the people's army, which were hard and simple.
It has to be said that Gao Zhang had done everything he could think of and could do in order to prepare for this thousand-mile storm that hit Xixia.
If this fails to bring down the Xingqing Mansion and kill the arrogant Li Qianshun, Gao Zhang feels that it is really not the destiny of the Song Dynasty.
I'm really sorry. I have a severe headache today. I'm going to rest now. I hope it will feel better tomorrow. I'll wake up and continue working hard.
(End of chapter)
