Unlike Wu Kaixiong who crossed Zhuohuo Pass with high spirits, the atmosphere on Xiaochuan's side, which was only a few days away from Zhuohuo Pass, was much more depressing.
Why? It's not that the people on Ogawa's side are all miscellaneous, so they have poor fighting will, but it's because they were coaxed enough by Chen Cang.
As Shen Hao had expected before, and in line with the analysis and deduction of the fourth department, all the 30,000 soldiers assembled on Ogawa's side were brought here with a feint shot using orders. Of course, the purpose of gathering here is not just to prevent the barbarians from sneaking in from the thousands of miles of bamboo sea, but to do the opposite and take the initiative to use this bamboo sea.
The plan was not proposed by Zuo Yuliang. Instead, the Ministry of War compiled and studied it repeatedly and then sent it to the Yamen, the general manager of the Southern Military Affairs Road, and ordered Zuo Yuliang to follow the implementation plan.
The Ministry of War was able to make this determination, and Zuo Yuliang, the general manager of the Southern Military Affairs Department, did not refuse the order after receiving the order. This shows that this is not an arbitrary order without basis. On the contrary, this decision has a lot of basis on paper. Great success is possible.
As early as early July, this plan had actually already begun preliminary actions under the joint auspices of the Ministry of War and the Southern Frontier Army. The main purpose was to test whether it was feasible.
The results pleased everyone.
In fact, the basis of this plan still comes down to the "Masan Case" that shocked the government and the opposition and completely changed the power structure of the Ministry of War. In addition to people like Zhou Qing, the highest-ranking person arrested at the time was Xu Hong, the then left minister of the Ministry of War.
Xu Hong's interrogation was originally conducted by Jiang Cheng. Shen Hao did not participate because he was not used to the kind of scene in which people's children were intimidated. Later, it was said that Xu Hong was sent to the Ministry of War Prison and died in the Ministry of War Prison.
What did Xu Hong recruit at that time? Outsiders don't know the details, but this time the military strategy of "borrowing through the Bamboo Sea" is closely related to some of the things Xu Hong confessed at the beginning.
After some secret testing, it was confirmed that what Xu Hong confessed was true, and then the plan of "borrowing the Bamboo Sea" was made.
Most of the 30,000 troops assembled by Xiaochuan did not know this inside information, including Zhang Qian and Gan Lin.
That's right, just as Shen Hao worried, these two old fritters who had just found the thick thigh of Guishan Monastery for themselves and thought they would go out to the battle formation did not go to Zhuhuo Pass at all but were gathered in Xiaochuan.
"Fuck him! You really want us to go into the bamboo forest, right?" Gan Lin rarely got together with Zhang Qian, and he started to speak evilly. He was so angry at this order.
Zhang Qian was also angry, but unlike Gan Lin, he could hold it back better. He poured a glass of water for the other party, sighed and said: "Have you also received the ointment distributed in the morning in the camp? Although it smells bad, it is said to be able to repel mosquitoes. If you apply it on your body, it will not be sucked into you. You If you don’t go into the forest to distribute that stuff, why are you doing it?”
"That's a thousand-mile bamboo sea! If you go around it, you'll almost die, let alone cross it? And most of our soldiers are ordinary people. They just learned some boxing and martial arts. They are not monks. Entering the bamboo forest is even more dangerous. If something happens, how many people will die?
Don’t the people in charge of the yamen think about these issues? "
"Shut up! Are you so stupid that you dare to talk about the general manager's office?" Zhang Qian put down the water glass with a straight face, a little unhappy with Gan Lin's unrestrained talk. Even if there are only two of them here, they can't talk nonsense. If they get used to being outside and it's easy to leak, that will be a big trouble for their heads.
Gan Lin also knew that he said something he shouldn't have said, so he clicked his mouth a few times without making a sound, but the resentment on his face was still a bit strong.
Originally, I had been holding back all my energy just waiting to go into battle and fight the barbarians for a while. It was not a waste of what I had learned in the army for so many years. But now it's better, the enemy has to sneak into the bamboo forest before he sees it. With the reputation of thousands of miles of bamboo sea, Ganlin doesn't even think he can get out alive, and he still talks about killing the enemy.
"Okay, you can complain to me here, but you still have to do what you should do. Don't be careless about the things in the booklet that was handed down!"
"Hmph, you are so sloppy. Although the things in that booklet are weird, they are definitely ways to save your life in the bamboo forest. Not to mention that the soldiers below must learn it. I also held the booklet and flipped through it all night. Lao Zhang, Do you think Zuo Shuai has figured out the way to the bamboo sea with this arrangement?"
"There must have been some testing in advance, otherwise these brochures and those ointments would not have been prepared for distribution. And I guess it was involved in the previous case involving smuggling by the border troops. Maybe it was the crackdown on those barbarians. Has the mouth found a safe path that can cross the thousands of miles of bamboo sea?"
"Hey, from what you said, it's really possible! However, there are too many people. If tens of thousands of people go in like this, it might cause bad things."
In addition to all kinds of murderous Jedi, there are countless terrifying beasts in the Bamboo Sea, some of which even ordinary monks find difficult to resist. There are also legends that there are some ferocious gregarious beasts in the bamboo forest. Once encountered, even the strong men in the Xuankai realm will stay away.
It's okay if the number of people is small, but tens of thousands of people are crossing the bamboo sea... This... Gan Lin always feels unreliable.
"It is impossible to gather 30,000 people and go in together. Have you noticed that the location of our camp is actually regular, like we are queuing up, and the entire military camp is like a long snake."
"That's right, what do you mean?"
"It's very likely that when going into the bamboo forest, the maximum number of passes is two battalions at a time, and then there will be some intervals between passes." Zhang Qian kept thinking about it when he arrived here, and had a premonition that he would have to enter Wanli Bamboo Forest. After the sea, he also has to think of some ways to increase his survival, which may not be the case.
"If that's the case, we can keep an eye on each other in our neighboring camps. But I just don't know if it's feasible."
"Whether it works or not will be discussed later. Remember, don't walk too fast after entering the bamboo forest, but don't walk too slowly either to avoid accidents when we merge together. It's best for us to discuss a suitable distance and then form a separate group of elites. , using the recruiting talisman as a message, reinforcements can be sent to any party in time if they need it. How about that?"
"It's best this way. Let's go. Without further ado, let's each call our adjutants to discuss the matter carefully and make a decision, so as not to be caught off guard by the sudden departure."
The two of them discussed the countermeasures without delay, and hurriedly called their respective adjutants to work out the details.
Two days later, as Zhang Qian expected, the thirty thousand soldiers gathered in Xiaochuan began to enter the Ten Thousand Miles of Bamboo Sea in batches, with one day between each batch. Moreover, the two battalions entering the Bamboo Sea will have a group of Golden Sword monks as the backing force. This is beyond most people's expectations, but it also gives them a lot of peace of mind.
After getting the order, Zhang Qian was counted as the fifth batch, followed by Gan Lin.
