A tall city suddenly appeared on the horizon.
The sergeants escorting the car watched from a distance and were quite shocked.
Many of them are refugees from Bingzhou and Jizhou. They crossed the river here many years ago and settled in Yunzhong, Kinmen, Tanshan, and Gancheng Siwu to reclaim wasteland.
This city did not exist at that time!
After walking for a while, we gradually got closer, and the whole city gradually came into view.
Carpenters are building a huge city gate.
The servants are digging the moat.
Craftsmen are installing a winch to drive the suspension bridge.
There were also people coming in and out, constantly bringing bricks, tiles, wood and stones to complete the city defense facilities such as parapets and horse faces.
"Heyang Nancheng." Shao Shen read out the four sharp characters on the south wall.
My handwriting is quite good, better than my second uncle's.
There were several camps set up outside the city, and at first glance they were all old acquaintances: either the Silver Spear Army, the field army recruited from various places, or even the Xuchang World Soldiers.
Xu didn't need to practice today, so they started to go to the fields to harvest food.
The ground was planted with beans, which made Shao Shen a little disappointed. There was unlikely to be much harvest.
However, in this war-torn world, it would be nice to get some miscellaneous food, so don’t think too much about it.
After two rounds of inspections, the convoy was allowed to go on the road.
They passed by the newly built post road on the east side of Heyang Nancheng, reached the ferry in less than a hundred steps, and then stepped onto the pontoon bridge.
"This bridge is too big..." Shao Shen was a little shocked.
During the war, it was very common to build simple pontoon bridges, but they were not so big and so strong.
Yes, this pontoon has only a slight sway and runs very smoothly.
The hull was also painted, which made it clear at first glance that it was a cost-effective ship. It was not a temporary pontoon that was abandoned after the war.
The wind on the river was very strong, and there was a faint fishy smell.
After a while of burning incense, the floating bridge swayed slightly, but overall it can still be said to be stable.
After walking for less than half an hour, the shaking became smaller again, and Hezhu was already in sight in the distance.
There is another city with three big characters written on it: "中欬(tān)城".
Good guy! The cities are connected to each other.
Compared with Nancheng, Zhongli City is slightly smaller, but it has all the necessary facilities. Wengcheng, horse noodles, etc. are all available, and the Yellow River is its natural moat.
The city is in the shape of a long strip with two gates in the north and south.
After passing the south gate, we walked for almost a mile and soon came out of the north gate, facing a brand new pontoon bridge.
The pontoon bridge is still under construction, but judging from how busy the craftsmen are, the progress should be very fast.
Standing outside the north gate, Shao Shen looked around and found that if nothing unexpected happened, the city itself would be difficult to attack head-on.
The reason is very simple: Hezhu is not big. After the city was built, in addition to small pieces of farmland, orchards, and vegetable patches on the east and west sides, there was very little open space outside the north and south gates, and a sheep and horse wall was built.
Fostering cattle, sheep, horses and mules.
If the enemy attacks, they really won't even have a foothold, and they won't be able to deploy their forces at all, let alone attack the city.
The motorcade stopped outside the north gate.
The civil servants went to deliver supplies with the defenders, while Shao Shen sat down and slowly enjoyed the beautiful scenery on the river.
"Where is Mr. Chen?" He sat for a while and felt bored again, so he grabbed a clerk and asked.
The official knew that he was Chen Gong's nephew, so he pointed to the west and said: "Over there."
Shao Shen opened his eyes and looked around, only to see dozens of boats going upstream on the wide river, slowly approaching another river in the west: Ma Zhu.
The boats are not big. Each boat can carry twenty people and is as big as the sky.
The boatmen rowed hard, and the boat swayed like a drunken man, slowly approaching Ma Zhu.
After a while, the drums sounded.
A group of lightly armored soldiers jumped off the boat and waded through the turbid river water, moving slowly through the mud.
Shao Shen could see that they had worked very hard, but wading through the water was not that easy. If they were not careful, they would be stuck in waist-deep water and unable to move.
As the ships approached Ma Zhu one by one, more and more soldiers jumped into the water, struggling to move forward wearing only leather armor or no armor at all.
There was a sound of trumpets on Ma Zhu.
Shao Shen is very familiar with martial arts, which is an order for archery.
"Alas! When this round of arrows rains down, not many people who rush to the island will survive." Shao Shen slapped his thigh and sighed again and again.
"It will be better at night." The clerk was also fascinated by the sight and said casually.
Shao Shen nodded slowly, then shook his head.
No matter day or night, it is actually very difficult to do this under the eyes of the enemy.
"Mr. Chen is going to invade the north bank now?" Shao Shen asked.
"I don't know either." The civil servant smiled bitterly and said, "However, we have indeed been collecting ships recently, and the number of them is no less than a hundred. Duke Chen even ordered carpenters to temporarily cut wood and build ships. It doesn't matter how long they last, as long as they can ferry people and horses for him.
Just cross the river."
Newly cut wood is obviously not suitable for shipbuilding. Over time, the ship will leak, deform, rot, and other problems. In severe cases, it may even fall apart in the middle of the river, which is purely harmful to people.
But it's okay for temporary use, and I don't expect it to last long anyway.
"What you said should be true." Shao Shen pushed the clerk away, rushed to the grass on the shore, and looked up at the silver gun soldiers who were landing.
It took them a long time to finally rush to the river bank and then set up their formation on the spot.
The large shield is in front, the spear is pointed outward, and the archers are in the back, making postures to draw their bows.
They even threw something in front of the formation. Shao Shen guessed that they were simple antlers made of tree branches. They could be carried by one person without a vehicle and used to temporarily block the cavalry charge when the horse was resisting. In fact, as long as you think carefully, you can find a way.
It's always more difficult than that.
After the first group of people landed, subsequent ships slowly rolled over, and the second group of soldiers began to land.
"This battle is too troublesome. I'm really anxious to death." Shao Shen was so anxious that he wished he could jump on Ma Zhu himself, wield a long-handled ax, kill all the enemies, and continuously expand the defense line.
"Dong dong dong..." Drums sounded from the other side.
Shao Shen immediately turned around and saw groups of sergeants getting up and heading to the ship.
That's not the Silver Gun Army!
"Hei Jing Army." The clerk explained softly: "There were originally 1,200 people. Ten days ago, we expanded the army by two. Now there are more than 2,400 people."
"What kind of black army does it have? It doesn't even have iron armor. It's holding a dark 'wooden stick'. What on earth do they want to do?" Shao Shen was a little surprised.
"They are going to die." The civil servant gloated: "The army has not yet been formed, but its skills have not yet been completed. In the future, they will be the first batch to fight across the north."
"Why do you see that?" Shao Shen asked: "If such a sparse army is forced by the enemy and driven down the river, it will not look good on Mr. Chen's face, right?"
"They are just refugees. We can take as many as we want. No matter how many people die, we don't feel bad about it." The literary official chuckled and said, "There are more than a hundred boats that can just ferry these two thousand and four hundred people."
"Didn't you say you are still building new ships?"
"Indeed." The civil servant replied: "Perhaps another batch of field troops will be deployed in the future."
Shao Shen stopped talking.
The battle across the river is really cruel, and it is easy to be attacked by someone who is halfway across the river.
In his opinion, it would be better to wait until winter, when the river is frozen solid, before sending troops northward.
However, there are also problems with this. It is inconvenient to collect soil in winter, which makes it troublesome to set up camp or build a city.
"I don't know what my second uncle is thinking, eh." Shao Shen walked around anxiously.
"The emperor issued an edict and had to go north." The literary official explained.
"Huh?" Shao Shen was a little surprised. He really didn't know about this.
"What happened seven days ago," the official said, "The angel came to Zhongli City and read the edict in public. After Chen Gong received the edict, he informed the whole army. If we wait a few more days, I am afraid that even the Huns will know about it."
"No wonder, no wonder!" Shao Shen stamped his feet and sighed, "No wonder I heard the people talking when I was passing through Nancheng."
In fact, there was more than just discussion, there was also a faint sound of crying.
All fools know how risky it is to cross the river and attack Zhemati directly.
It is not that there are no Xiongnu scouts or agents on the south bank of the river. You will know after a little inquiry.
"What does the emperor's order mean?" Shao Shen said angrily, a little angry.
The literary official shook his head and smiled bitterly.
The emperor's edict can indeed be obeyed or violated, but Mr. Chen seems to have no intention of refusing this time. The reason is probably because he is worried about long nights and dreams. In short, this is a matter from above. He doesn't know much about it and can't understand it, so he just lets it go.
.
Shao Shen felt unhappy and was too lazy to read any more.
When we returned to the city gate, the delivered supplies had been delivered: preserved meat, cheese, and pickles sent by Guang Chengze.
There is also a small amount of rice sent by Empress Hui Yang.
Well, there are also two winter coats. Princess Xiangcheng asked him to give them to her in private.
Second uncle is really...
After waiting for Shao Xun for a day in Zhongli City, Shao Shen returned with his convoy.
On August 16, they stayed overnight in Nancheng. The next day, they saw thousands of soldiers from Xuchang break camp and set off to the east, accompanied by a large number of craftsmen.
When I asked them what they were doing, no one was willing to tell the truth. But the "smart" Shao Shen had already seen through it. They must have gone downstream to find a place to build a temporary pontoon bridge, because they brought a lot of bridge-building tools.
But - after passing the Mengjin section, not only the river became more open, but the water was also quite turbulent. Can a pontoon bridge really be built? He had some doubts.
This battle made him a little confused.
After thinking about it, Shao Shen was so anxious that he stopped and asked his men to lead the convoy back, while he went straight to Zhongli City, intending to admonish his second uncle.
Chapter completed!