The five ridges are meandering and the waves are flowing, and the Wumeng is majestic and muddy...

The Five Ridges described by the great man were majestic, but at this time they were standing in front of the escort.

Half of Longhu Pass is in Hunan and half is in Guangxi. There is a rapid in the middle with small waves. Even experienced boatmen dare not sail a boat on it.

And Guancheng is right on the edge of this rapid, surrounded by mountains and rivers.

Mountains are steep and dangerous peaks that are difficult to climb, and water are violent rapids that cannot be crossed.

It has been two days since Xu Shu led a group of special forces outside Longtou Ridge. The closest distance he has to Guancheng is less than a kilometer.

However, the defense above Guancheng is very strict, and it can be seen that the general guarding the city is a very careful person.

The soldiers on sentry duty were able to stay at their posts without slacking off for a moment, which was very inconsistent with the state of ordinary green battalion soldiers.

It was precisely because he knew that Longhu Pass was difficult to crack that Xu Shu personally led a team to investigate.

As the commander of the training team, Xu Shu rarely leads the special operations squadron in operations.

After all, the special operations team is a dancer on the tip of a knife, in close contact with death all day long.

"Commander, the side of Guancheng facing the road is relatively flat. The opponent has set up fires even at night, so a sneak attack is impossible." Liu Yunlong, the squadron leader of the special operations squadron, is Xu Shu's old subordinate.

"It is naturally very difficult to capture Guancheng head-on. This has been the purpose of setting up barriers in dangerous areas since ancient times. Isn't the existence of our special forces just to crack this hard nut?"

Xu Shu pointed to the steep mountain behind Guancheng and said: "The most unlikely place is the safest place. We think it is impossible to get to the top of the mountain, and the enemy also thinks it is impossible."

"Commander, do you mean to climb the mountain behind Guancheng?" Liu Yunlong asked in disbelief.

The mountain behind Guancheng is only a few hundred meters high, not very high, but the mountain wall is very steep, almost 90 degrees vertical.

Moreover, most of the mountains here are limestone mountains, also known as Custer landforms, which are bare with almost no trees.

Everyone has basically seen Guilin’s landscape, and it looks like that.

The people who built Guancheng probably thought that no one could climb such a mountain, so they built Guancheng at the foot of the mountain.

If it is a mountain that can be climbed, the enemy can climb to the top and command a commanding position. Especially on a mountain with a height of several hundred meters, you can attack with rocks or throw bows and arrows.

Of course, for a mountain like that, the defenders would build a fortress on the top of the mountain to coordinate defense with the city walls below.

Never underestimate the wisdom of the ancients. The ancients of China have developed the art of city building almost to the extreme.

"Can you go up the mountain behind Guancheng?" Xu Shu asked.

Liu Yunlong shook his head and said: "It's too steep. I definitely won't be able to go up with my bare hands unless someone installs a climbing rope on it."

The special forces have a lot of professional equipment in their hands. Most of it was made by Dong Liang for them, which is why they became a special forces.

When they practice, one important subject is to practice the use of these equipment.

"You have to be more flexible in your battles. There are so many mountains, don't just focus on one."

Xu Shu pointed to another mountain and said.

This mountain is higher, but its slope is not that steep. There is a slope of about 70 degrees at the western foot of the mountain.

"Climb up from here, use a crossbow to shoot a traction rope to the mountain behind Guancheng, and then everyone climbs over and falls down from the mountain one by one."

"Okay, then let me climb." Liu Yunlong said.

Xu Shu waved his hand and said, "Let Yuan Long-Arm climb."

Long-arm Yuan's surname is Yuan. Because his arms are longer than ordinary people, he was nicknamed Long-arm Yuan.

He was originally a swallow gatherer on the seaside, that is, the kind of person who climbed on the cliffs of caves to pick bird's nests.

Rock walls are much more difficult than climbing mountains. Sometimes the angle to the top of the rock wall exceeds 90 degrees.

The operation required the cover of darkness, so the special forces team had to continue to wait at a distance.

Xu Shu went to recruit the main force of the teaching team.

As night falls, Longhu Pass looks like an ink painting, its color becomes darker.

Li Xubin stood on top of Guancheng. In his eyes were the rapid streams and the endless mountains in the distance.

Li Xubin is 36 years old this year, and he is in the prime of life. He is from Xiangxiang, Hunan, and comes from a family of farmers and scholars. When he was a teenager, his father Li Dengsheng was ill for a long time and spent a lot of money, which caused his family to fall into ruin.

He stayed at home to take care of his father and take care of the housework, planting fruit trees and cotton to supplement the family income. At that time, Luo Zenan, a famous scholar from his hometown, opened a school to teach students. Li Xubin was unable to go to study because of family troubles. It was not until he was thirty years old that he was able to become a disciple of Luo Zenan.

He became one of his most famous disciples.

This Luo Zenan is even more famous. He is known as the "scholar and warrior" who dismounted from his horse to lecture and mounted his horse to kill the enemy. He founded the Hunan Army together with Zeng Guofan. It can be said that Luo Zenan is the soul of the Hunan Army. It is just that before the Hunan Army had fully risen, Luo Zenan was even more famous.

He died in battle.

At this time, Li Xubin was not as outstanding as he would later be. Luo Zenan placed him in such an important position as Longhu Pass to train him.

"What will the Dragon and Tiger of Huandan do? The Black Tortoise in the north and the Suzaku in the south. The Suzaku turns into a dragon, and the Yuan Palace raises giant insects. The giant insects eat grass and trees, and the dragon loves to swallow gold and jade. They fight against Cangming, and they are all wounded and full of blood."

Li Xubin murmured to himself a line from his predecessors.

He has been stationed at Longhu Pass for several months. This is a remote place in Hunan. Ordinary people may feel that they have been assigned. But Li Xubin is calm and contented.

"Junmen, the night breeze in the mountains is very cold. Please go back to Guanlou and rest." An old soldier in his forties came up behind Li Xubin and said softly.

"Old Huang, do you think it's very quiet at night?"

Lao Huang was just a veteran at Li Xubin's disposal, and could not understand the meaning of the general's words.

"Yeah, it's very quiet, you can only hear the chirping of insects."

Li Xubin said: "It does seem very quiet on the surface, but there are countless small insects and beasts moving in the dark. If a few big beasts suddenly appear, it will break the calm. This is the case in the Qing Dynasty now.

It has been stirred up by a few big beasts, and unless these big beasts are removed, everyone will not be able to live in peace."

Li Xubin completely inherited his teacher Luo Zenan's ideology. They both believed that the original order was the law of nature and should not be broken at will.

And those who take the lead to stir up trouble must be selfish people. These people disturb the peaceful life of the people for their own ambitions.

Li Xubin sighed with emotion and took the soldiers around him to inspect the guards in Guancheng.

"For the bonfire outside the city, someone should be sent in advance to replenish the firewood. I heard that the pirates are good at sneak attacks, so they must not be neglected during the handover. You guys must strengthen the inspection of the city wall at night to prevent anyone from slacking off. I

I will also get up and do random checks. If I find someone dozing off in any guard section, I will not forgive them."

Fortunately, the soldiers and horses under his command were all Hunan Army soldiers brought by Li Xubin from his hometown. Their military pay was three times that of the Green Camp soldiers, and they were all paid in full.

Therefore, the soldiers of the Hunan Army have the strongest fighting will among the Qing Army. Even stronger than those of the Eight Banners Army.

On another mountain next to the mountain behind Guancheng.

Long-arm Yuan had already climbed up the west slope. The dew at night made the rocks slippery, which made the climb more difficult.

However, Long-Armed Yuan now has a set of equipment on him. The non-slip rubber gloves on his hands and the hiking boots on his feet all add a lot to his skills.

He also wears a safety rope on his body, and he will smash a nail into the rock at regular intervals to fix the safety rope on his body.

In this way, even if he misses, he still has a layer of insurance.

In the first month of the year, the cold wind howls at Longhu Pass. Although it is not frozen, the cold moisture in the air penetrates straight into people's bones.

But there was sweat on Yuan Yuan's forehead.

The mountain he was climbing was more than a hundred meters higher than the mountain behind Guancheng.

Xu Shu wanted to take advantage of the drop of more than 100 meters and use a crossbow gun to hit the rope to the opposite mountain.

Soon, the gibbon reached the top of the mountain and tied a climbing rope to the big rock.

The special forces members climbed the rope to the top of the mountain one by one. The next step was how to get from this mountain to another mountain.

It is also the most difficult part.

Li Xubin is a very cautious person, but based on his knowledge, it is difficult to imagine that a person can reach from one mountain to another. Only the gods in the storybooks can do such a thing.

This is one of the reasons why the Guards are able to win by surprise every time. The equipment used by the Guards can do things beyond the imagination of the Qing generals. This is a bit like a dimensionality reduction strike.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Instead of stabbing and wiping the neck as expected, the special forces team came up and drew their guns.

They used more than a dozen ropes to slide down from the top of a mountain several hundred meters without any warning.

But the garrison had a large number of guards.

The moment they came down, the special operations team members exposed themselves.

They instantly drew their pistols and began to kill the enemies they encountered.

The special operations team members gathered together and began to rush towards the gate of Guancheng.

At this time, the teaching team waiting one kilometer away suddenly launched their attack and charged towards Guancheng.

With the support of the inner-city warfare team, the escort finally occupied the city.

Li Xubin did not escape. He had the pride of a scholar. He led his men to resist stubbornly, and was finally eliminated by the escort. A generation of generals of the Hunan Army fell. This era is destined to no longer need them to shine.

Most of these people came from landowners or small landowners, and it was impossible for them to accept the concept of the Guards.

After opening up the channel to Hunan, Xu Shu led his men to fight non-stop along the Xiaoshui River towards Yongzhou. Yongzhou is the upper reaches of the Xiangjiang River, where the Xiaoshui River merges into the Xiangjiang River, and downstream from here are Hengzhou and Changsha. In a sense,

It is said that the status of Yongzhou is somewhat similar to that of Ganzhou.

As long as the escort army occupies this place, builds a shipyard, and waits until the number of gunboats reaches a certain number, they will soon be able to move down the river and control the most important Xiangjiang River Basin in Hunan.

It was not until this time that Dong Liang's layout in the south was basically revealed.

Occupy Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian to cut off foreigners from intervening in the civil war between the Chinese and the Manchus.

With limited troops, control the two key nodes of Ganzhou and Yongzhou.
Chapter completed!