The subtropical jungle is densely populated with various poisonous insects, and the Annan Army also has corresponding defenses. Officers often inlaid some iron leaves on their hats for protection.
The armor equipped by the elite troops is almost a replica of the Central Plains armor. It is a double-breasted iron leaf armor. Because Annan does not produce cotton and cotton has relied on imports since ancient times, a small amount is cotton armor, and most of them are ordinary iron leaf armor that does not contain cotton. , many officers are also equipped with Central Plains-style tiger head belly huggers.
However, these are ideal conditions. The actual situation is that even the Beijing soldiers are too lazy to wear these heavy armors. On the one hand, iron leaf armor is very difficult to maintain in the humid environment of Southeast Asia and is easy to rust. On the other hand, in the jungle, When fighting in the middle of a battle, it is very cumbersome and extremely hot to wear it like this. After a battle, if you are not killed by the enemy, you will die from the heat.
What's more, the main opponent of Annan's army has not been the Central Plains regime, but the Siamese Army and the Burmese Army next to it. The battlefield climate is hot, and the opponents are basically equipped with rattan armor and leather armor, and most of them are unarmored units. Annan The army's heavy armor is really superfluous.
In the Li Dynasty, Zheng and Nguyen were divided, and the national power was greatly reduced, making it even more impossible to equip iron armor on a large scale. Therefore, the soldiers of the Beijing Army led by Zheng Guang this time actually wore leather vests and wooden leather helmets on their heads, except for the officers.
Song Zhi's complaints reached Gao Heng's ears. He was a civilian and had never been a soldier before. Although he had learned some tricks in the arena, it was uncertain whether he would still have the courage to do so on the real battlefield. The seed leather armor was definitely not as comfortable to wear as the Ming army's cotton armor, so Song Zhi complained twice, but Gao Heng didn't answer.
"How's it going? Are you ready with all the equipment you need to bring?" Gao Heng asked. "Ready!" everyone replied. Each of them had two ceramic jars tied together with a rope hanging around their necks, and they carried special explosive bags behind their backs.
Under Gao Heng's instruction, all explosive packages had lead placed flat on the front and an iron plate on the back. Gao Heng specially marked a few words on the side where the lead was placed. This side faces the enemy. This is Gao Heng's trump card.
After everyone lined up, Gao Heng stared at everyone. They were going out of the city to fight tonight, but they couldn't go out through the main entrance. No one knew whether there would be enemy sentries outside, so everyone could only take the gondola and go from the south of the town. He then secretly penetrated the border between the two countries and entered Yuan County to fight.
There was no farewell ceremony, and this secret operation could only be carried out quietly without any fanfare. Just as Gao Heng was about to give the order to set off, a voice came from the corner of the street, "Wait a minute." The team quickly looked back and found Huang Kun coming with a few people. Today's attack, only Huang Kun came to see him off. Zuo Bin was too lazy to come. He was not optimistic about this operation. It was just that he didn't have to bear the risk himself and could get credit for the success. That's why he agreed to this operation and asked him to come. It was impossible to see off a few soldiers.
Huang Kun was different. After all, Gao Heng had recruited himself into the army. Now that they were going to war, Huang Kun came to give them a gift, which was regarded as a blessing for them. Although these people were rewarded heavily, everyone knew that this operation would lead to a narrow escape from death.
"It turns out to be Mr. Huang, we are about to set off." Huang Kun turned around and winked, and a soldier handed him a wine bag.
Huang Kun said: "Little Guancheng, there is nothing to offer. This is the old wine I brought from Zhoucheng. When you go to battle today, treat it as Zhuangxing wine for you."
Gao Heng is also unmoji. As a Chinese soldier, these four words of perseverance and courage have long been reflected in Gao Heng's character. He took the wine bag and took a sip. It was a little sour and bitter. It was really incomparable with the distilled wine of later generations. It should be a self-brewed grain wine. In troubled times, grain is extremely precious and can be used. It is not easy to make wine from grain, so the taste is not so particular.
The wine bag was passed down Gao Heng's hand. Everyone took a sip, and the wine bag became empty. Gao Heng handed it back, cupped his fists at Huang Kun and said, "Thank you, sir. Let's go, brothers!"
Twenty-one people disappeared into the night. The hanging basket is a daily tool for leaving the city. Once there is a war, the city gate will definitely be closed. If you have to leave the city, you can only enter the hanging basket first, and then slowly Let's go down to the city. Each of the hanging baskets in Zhennanguan can carry two people. Gao Heng asked everyone to go down in groups of two. After going down, they should stay quiet, keep their bodies low, and try not to expose themselves.
Gao Heng was the last one to go down. He looked back at Zhennanguan. Although it was a small town, it was also the first place he arrived after traveling through the Ming Dynasty. I don’t know if this battle can be successful. If not, maybe this is His short journey to the Ming Dynasty has come to an end. If he dies, will he travel to other dynasties again?
Strange thoughts came to Gao Heng's mind. He shook his head to wake himself up, then sat on the hanging basket and slowly fell to the ground with the help of the city defenders.
There is an earthy smell in the air, which is obviously different from the smell in the city. This is because the subtropical climate causes high air humidity and moist soil. Once the temperature is higher, the transpiration of water vapor will bring out the unique fishy smell in the soil. . He was too familiar with this smell. Once upon a time, the Southern Excalibur fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
"Okay, let's move forward slowly in the jungle. Except for the five people from the action team, the remaining support team is divided into groups of three, just like our original arrangement. After crossing the border, every two miles, Place a group of men and horses, and you should understand how to use the explosive packs behind them." Gao Heng explained.
"Understood!" Everyone replied in a low voice, and then followed Gao Heng. The distance between the two cities is about fifteen miles. The border is five miles out of the city. This is a mountainous area, and five miles away is a plain. Because of the terrain For this reason, the Annan Army did not station troops in the mountains after their defeat, but retreated to the plains. Zheng Guang placed large forces around Yuan County. Only a few hundred people were on guard at the border, and a small number of sentries were arranged in the mountains to monitor the town. The movements of the Nanguan garrison.
If a large force were dispatched from Zhennang Pass, they would definitely be discovered by these sentries. However, Gao Heng and his group were small in number and set out from the flank. In the dark night, they only followed the starlight, so the Annan Army sentries could not detect them at all.
Click, click, the sound of the blade chopping on the plants kept coming. The reason why Gao Heng carried a pair of knives was for this purpose. The pair of knives were heavy machetes. In battles with the enemy, they might not be particularly useful, but Used to open roads in the jungle, knives are magical tools. Even the later Republic armies were equipped with a considerable number of machetes when they fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
They were not moving very fast. Gao Heng was at the front exploring the road, and the people from the action team followed behind, constantly using their knives to cut off the trees and bushes blocking the way and clear a path.
The soldiers followed, each holding a copper plate in his mouth. This was the basic requirement for concealed marching. In the dark night, only the chirping of insects could be heard. Gao Heng listened carefully to the movement ahead. Perhaps they were lucky and there was no danger along the way. It can be seen that the Annan army did not place too many sentries outside Zhennanguan.
It's easy to understand when you think about it. Zheng Guang had many soldiers, but the Ming Dynasty was in a state of distress. It was impossible to mobilize an army from other places to Zhennanguan. With such a small number of troops, it was strange that the defenders dared to take the initiative to attack.
The terrain continued to decline, and Gao Heng knew in his heart that he was about to leave the border and enter the plains. That was the territory of the Annan people, and they had to be very alert. In later generations of southwest operations, the Annan special agent team appeared and disappeared, causing chaos in the frontline positions. Later, our army also deployed corresponding troops to carry out special agent operations, and then the fight became more frequent.
The Southern Divine Sword was also formed under this background. Agent combat has been engraved in Gao Heng's genes. After entering the plains, Gao Heng's vigilance has increased a lot.
Judging from the time, it was garrison time when they set off, and it should be almost midnight now. The mountain road is difficult to travel, so it is normal for the speed to be slower. When they arrived on the plain, they saw the camp next to the border at a glance. It was not big, with about a few hundred people. It was brightly lit, with torches burning around the camp. It had a creek at its back, and sentries could still be vaguely seen. On patrol, this should be the outpost of Annan Army.
"Leave a group of people here, and leave the rest alone and continue moving forward." Gao Heng waved his hand.
During the few days of training, Gao Heng actually gave them two tasks. He also knew that it was impossible to train these people into special forces soldiers in a few days. The tasks of the support team were not complicated in the first place, so one was to teach them How to arrange explosive bags, and the other is to teach them to hide themselves in the jungle. Everyone in Gao Heng's team was painted with a mixture of black and green paint on their faces and exposed parts of their bodies.
At the same time, he also found Huang Kun and asked the Ming army soldiers to help him collect some small-hole fishing nets locally. He cut these fishing nets and put them as outer covers on everyone. After leaving the city, they inserted many flowers and plants into the mesh. The branches are well camouflaged in this way, let alone in the dark night, even in the daytime, as long as they don't move, the enemy sentries cannot detect them at close range.
The other is the arrangement of the explosive bag. When Gao Heng was making it, he neatly stacked the lead on the front of the explosive bag, wrapped it tightly with linen cloth, stuffed it into the bag, tied it with hemp rope on the outside, and padded them on the back. The lower part of the obtained iron plate is longer than the explosive bag. When using it, insert the lower end of the iron plate into the ground at a slight angle to maintain stability.
In this way, when the explosive package explodes, in addition to the damage caused by the shock wave, the lead will be ejected from the front in a fan-shaped posture. This is a simple version of the broadsword mine. Gao Heng can be sure that it will be within a range of tens of meters, not to mention too far. I'm afraid all the enemy troops inside will be beaten into sieves.
The three people obeyed the order and stayed. They spread out. The distance between each person was about twenty or thirty meters, which was about fifteen steps according to the instructions. They placed the explosive packs and hid them in the bushes. Gao Heng gave him The time is twelve hours, and there must be a result within one day. If they cannot come back within one day, it means the mission has failed. The support team can automatically disarm and return with the equipment.
Immediately, Gao Heng marked a tree and continued to move forward. After completing the task, they would return along this route. If there were pursuers behind them, they would let Annan's army taste the feast he had prepared for them.
Just like this, we were advancing covertly. Calculating the time, we should have entered an area less than five miles away from Yuanxian County. This area was already very dangerous. Thousands of troops were stationed outside the city, and there was no guarantee that there would be no sentries on guard. Sure enough, after walking another hundred steps into the jungle, Gao Heng suddenly heard a faint voice in front of him.
He suddenly raised his right hand and made a fist. The twelve people behind him immediately stopped. Lu Tao and Wu Rong were on alert, and the others were waiting for Gao Heng's next order. Gao Heng pressed his hand and signaled the others to wait for him here. He pushed aside the grass in front of him and slowly moved toward the direction of the sound.
At this position, it would be strange if there was no enemy guard post. Encountering the guard post would be a good thing for Gao Heng. They were not particularly clear about the specific defensive arrangements of the troops outside and inside the city. If they could catch two tongues, I can do some interrogation.
Gao Heng tried his best to lower his footsteps and constantly adjusted his breathing. In the latent operation, any tiny detail may lead to exposure. Although I don't know what the level of the Annan army sentries is now, the Annan special agent team in the Republic's counterattack can Not vegetarian.
The voice of the voice became clearer and clearer. Gao Heng squinted his eyes and kept searching. Sure enough, in a small open space in front of him, Gao Heng found clues. What caught his eyes was the faint firelight on the grass, and the surrounding area of the firelight flickered. Three figures are mapped out.
Gao Heng almost immediately judged that these guys were baking food, and they were very smart. They used a black cloth they didn't know where they got and a tree branch to set up a simple small tent. This was not a tent for entertaining people, but It is a shield to ensure that the firelight and smoke are not exposed when grilling food. If you don't get close to this place, you can't find out what they are doing.
Gao Heng sneered. These horses are quite smart. Lighting fires while on duty is a taboo among military strategists. It is absolutely prohibited in ancient times and modern times. If discovered by the enemy, they may be attacked by surprise. If he was discovered by his superior officer, he would certainly not be able to escape severe punishment under military law.
The Annan region is a subtropical area and is also a relatively traditional gathering, fishing and hunting area. The living habits are very similar to those in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi in China. The people there have some fishing and hunting skills. There are many edible animals in the jungle. The food of the Annan army is not considered It was so good, so they were hunting in the forest, and it was normal for them to go out and eat meat while patrolling. However, unfortunately, they met Gao Heng.
