Huanshui is not a big river. After sending people to test the depth, they found that the water in the middle of the river was only waist deep, so Fang Zian decided to wade across the river with horses and men. This was the fastest way. The only trouble was that the river water was so cold at the moment that it was bone-chilling. , crossing the river in this way will inevitably get you wet, which will cause some trouble.

But now, there is no other choice, because Fang Zian's plan is to pass through the garrison defense areas of the four cities on the Jinbing border in one day and one night, so he must act quickly.

Basic preparations still need to be done. In order to avoid frostbite caused by soaked clothes, Fang Zian requires everyone to ride across the river on horseback and take off their lower clothes. After crossing the river, put on their lower clothes and clothes again. Boots, this is the best way to wade in winter. There is no need to worry about dozens of large vehicles. Food supplies are wrapped in oilcloth bags. As long as the speed is fast enough, the dry food will not get wet. As for the rocket gunpowder carried As for thunderballs, which cannot be affected by moisture, the soldiers were ordered to carry them on their backs to ensure they were dry.

Half an hour later, Fang Zian rode a horse with two long legs and took the lead into the glacier. The other soldiers followed closely and waded into the ice water. The river flowed rapidly, and the horse Struggling and neighing in the cold river water, the short wading process of more than ten feet was extremely thrilling. More than a dozen war horses couldn't stand the cold river water and were frightened and ran around. The soldiers on the horses were also thrown into the water. Fortunately, the soldiers survived They were connected with long ropes, which could drag them out of the river. The feeling of the lower body being soaked in the ice water was as painful as a knife cutting into the flesh. But fortunately, everything ended quickly, as a cavalry passed by. It took less than half an hour for one vehicle to cross the river. Everyone successfully crossed the river.

Everyone who was shivering quickly put on their pants and boots, and under the leadership of Fang Zian, they did several sets of high-intensity quick warm-ups, which allowed their numb lower bodies to regain consciousness and heat. However, a dozen soldiers who fell into the water stripped naked and hid. In the truck, they could only wait for their clothes to dry before putting them on. Fang Zian naturally did not have time to give them a break to warm themselves by the fire, so he ordered to set off immediately after packing up.

The carriages and horses struggled forward in the cold wind of the wilderness. In the evening, the brothers who were exploring the road galloped back and reported a piece of news. There was another big river three miles ahead, and the river surface was very wide. What was even more troublesome was that, Opposite is a market town, which seems to have an arrow tower and golden soldiers moving about.

Fang Zian immediately ordered to stop advancing and let the team enter a forest in the west to rest temporarily. He took Zhao Gang and others to check. He climbed a hill on the side and leaned on the top of the hill to look over. The situation ahead was clear at a glance. Sure enough, not far ahead, a large river meanders down. The river is open, probably twenty feet wide. It is an out-and-out large river. On the high ground about a mile away on the other side of the river, there are more than a dozen houses. , and there are high-walled courtyards with arrow towers and flags. Looking carefully through the telescope, you can see the figures of cavalry coming in and out of the courtyard entrance, all wearing armor and fully armed.

Seeing this situation, Fang Zian had no choice but to leave two soldiers behind to observe the movements of the soldiers and horses on the other side, and returned to the woods to report to Shi Hao the situation discovered ahead. Shi Hao heard this and said with some worry: "Are you sure it's the Jin soldiers? Are they coming? Cut us off."

Fang Zian shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily true. It looks like a barracks set up on an official road. It's just like the checkpoints and warning observation posts on the official road we saw in Haozhou. It's just that the scale is not small. It looks like,

At least there are more than a hundred soldiers and horses stationed here. They have not discovered us."

Hearing this, Shi Hao breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. If they didn't find us, they didn't come for us."

Fang Zian smacked his lips and said: "The key problem is that they are blocking our way. The big river in front of us should be the Tuo River. If we cross the river, we will be discovered by the soldiers and horses on the other side, and we will be in trouble."

Shi Hao pondered: "Yes, how about we bypass them and find another place to cross the river."

Fang Zian said: "We should be in Lingbi County at the moment. Lingbi and Suzhou Prefecture are very close to each other. We should be at the place where the Jin soldiers and horses are densely packed. Lingbi should be not far to the east.

County. We can only detour eastward, because going west will deviate from our route. But such military stations and field barracks should be very dense. It will be more dangerous for us to go east. Because once our whereabouts are discovered, Lingbi County

The golden soldiers will arrive quickly to surround and kill us. When there is a big river in front of us and golden soldiers behind us, we will be in big trouble."

Shi Hao said: "What should we do?"

Lei Hu said: "Sir, let's just take over the responsibility of the golden soldiers on the opposite side. This will save us the trouble."

Shi Hao frowned and said: "Don't talk nonsense. They are on the other side of the river. Zian said that there is a big river ahead and we may not be able to cross the river. How to deal with the golden soldiers on the other side? Besides, if we do it, wouldn't it be just to scare the snake and attract the golden soldiers to surround and kill them?

"

Lei Hu scratched his head and said, "That's what I said, forget it if you don't succeed. Aren't I also anxious?"

Fang Zian said: "There is a way to cross the river, Lei Hu. The hundreds of sheepskin bags we brought can come in handy. But I'm afraid we have to wait until night to sneak across. Well, my idea is, let's wait until dark

Sneak across the river and then quietly touch it. If the other party doesn't notice, that's fine. If they do, then you can only take action and kill them together."

Lei Hu smiled and said: "Hey, Mr. Shi has nothing to say. Mr. Fang also said that he would take action."

Shi Hao said to Fang Zian: "Zian, once you take action, your whereabouts will be exposed."

Fang Zian said: "There is nothing we can do about it. Sir, please look at this map. After crossing Tuohe River, we can leave Suzhou in the north in less than sixty miles. Once we break into Henan, they will take some advantage of us.

There is no other way. They will never ignore the defense of the border area in order to chase our small group of troops. That is their responsibility. The most they can do is send people to Henan to alert the news of the infiltration of troops. They will never

They will pursue us relentlessly. Even if our whereabouts are exposed and they send out troops to catch up, it will take time to mobilize and send out troops. We will rush north quickly, and when they surround us, we should be able to rush out of this point of more than sixty miles.

distance."

Shi Hao looked at the map unfolded by Fang Zian and could only nod his head and said: "That's it, you make the decision. I don't understand these things very well. Since you have confidence, just do it according to your own ideas. Anyway, I entrust you with this old life."

You have it in your hand."

Fang Zian smiled and said: "Don't worry, father-in-law, I will do my best to protect you. After entering the Kingdom of Jin, there will be danger at any time, and there is nothing you can do about it."

Shi Hao nodded and said: "I understand, you can make your own decisions."

Fang Zian immediately ordered everyone to make a fire, boil water, dry the clothes, and seize the time to feed the horses. Among the supplies brought this time, he specially brought some smokeless charcoal, which will be red and hot when lit, but without smoke, which can prevent the fire from being discovered.

In fact, there is no risk of lighting a fire even if we are several miles apart, but it is better to be careful.

Dozens of other soldiers took out the sheepskin bags they carried in the car and began to blow and prick their mouths. The reason why Fang Zian brought these sheepskin bags this time was naturally for a purpose. First, these sheepskin bags could be used as weapons at critical moments.

A tool for swimming. After each sheepskin bag is fully inflated, it can bear the weight of a person and be used for swimming. In addition, when gathered together, a sheepskin raft can be made and used as a simple boat to cross the river. Another use is,

The sheepskin bag can be used as a moisture-proof and waterproof package to store clothing, dry food, gunpowder and other items. If there is bad weather, it can at least ensure the storage of basic supplies, food and fire, and can also store water. In an emergency, it can also be used as a clothing cover to keep out the cold.

On his body. In Fang Zian's view, this is a package for special forces to survive in the wild. Although this thing is heavy, it is very light and has many uses, so Fang Zian put more than 200 of them in the firefighting army warehouse.

All the sheepskin bags were searched and taken away.

It was getting dark, and the weather was getting colder. The dark red light of the charcoal fire could no longer provide much heat. Fortunately, the soldiers ate hot food and drank hot water, and the places that should be dried were dried, but there was no need to dry them.

It wasn’t too cold. Finally, when it got completely dark, Fang Zian gave the order and everyone carried three

The huge sheepskin raft slowly moved towards the Tuo River.

Looking over the hill, the Jin Bing Military Station on the other side was brightly lit. There seemed to be a bonfire in the yard. Although they were nearly two miles away, the unbridled laughter and talking of the Jin Bing were still carried to everyone's ears by the north wind from time to time.

Bian. He was chirping, and he didn’t know what he was talking about.

"Get ready to cross the river!" Fang Zian waved his hand and ordered. According to the plan, the first batch of 60 soldiers crossed the river on sheepskin rafts and organized a line of defense on the other side, and then transported supplies and horses across the river in batches.

Sixty soldiers carrying crossbows boarded the raft under the leadership of Lei Hu and Zhao Gang. Under the light of a cold moon, they slowly rowed towards the other side. The Tuo River is the largest tributary of the Huai River.

The river is wide, the water is abundant, but the flow is very slow. Therefore, it is not difficult to cross the river on sheepskin rafts. In less than half an hour, the sixty soldiers reached the other side. The few ropes they carried across were also straightened.

Several long ropeways are formed to connect the two banks. The purpose of this is to pull some heavy houses along the ropes through the ropeways. At the same time, crossing the river by pulling the ropes is much faster and safer than paddling.

.

The three rafts came back soon, followed by another 60 soldiers crossing the river. After these 60 soldiers passed, there were more than 100 troops on the other side. Even if there was any accident, they were strong enough to deal with the Jin soldiers.

The soldiers and horses were gone. This made Fang Zian let out a sigh of relief.

But in fact, the most difficult task is still behind. A large number of war horses, a large amount of supplies, and dozens of large vehicles are troublesome. The supplies are easy to handle, and the large vehicles are also easy to handle. After all, they are dead objects and easy to control.

, it’s just a matter of transporting it a few more times. But the war horses can be a big trouble. These horses are difficult to control. They are living creatures and heavy in weight. Once they are frightened on the sheepskin raft, it will cause unpredictable consequences.

More than an hour later, after all the materials, including vehicles, were transported, only more than 200 horses gathered on the south bank were left. Although they were blindfolded, they could smell the water vapor of the river and hear the gurgling sound of the river.

The children snorted nervously and were restless.

Fang Zian had three sheepskin rafts tied together to form a river-crossing platform with a radius of five or six feet. For safety reasons, only about twenty war horses could be transported at a time, and they had to be gathered in the middle of the raft to

To prevent the horse from stepping into the air and rolling over. The process of crossing the river is even more careful. Do not dare to go too fast. Pull the rope and move almost foot by foot to ensure the physical and emotional stability of the horse on the boat. Crossing the river is even more difficult.

It took half an hour to complete the trip.

Fang Zian was extremely anxious. At this speed, he could only transport three times an hour. It would take more than three hours to complete the two hundred horses. This was really too slow. He wanted to give up the horses, but he couldn't.

Because without the horse, the marching speed will be seriously slowed down, and the subsequent situation will be even more unfavorable. So although I am anxious, I can only endure it.

Time passed minute by minute, and every moment was a kind of suffering. The bone-chilling wind at night made everyone feel cold, and the bones were filled with cold air. Their hands and feet were extremely stiff. But everyone had to endure the slow speed of crossing the river.

.Finally, the last batch of eighteen war horses arrived on the other side, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, an accident happened at this time.

Perhaps because of nervousness or the cold, a soldier in charge of transporting horses failed to concentrate. When pulling the horse ashore, he missed his footing and fell into the river. In desperation, he grabbed the horse that was being pulled ashore.

The mane of a war horse that stepped ashore on the pedal. The horse neighed in pain and staggered into the empty space. It fell into the river under the embankment, neighed loudly and struggled. This time it was like a pot was exploding. It was originally in the

The tens of other war horses that had not yet reached the shore jumped up on the sheepskin raft in a state of nervousness. The soldiers could not control it at all. Eight or nine horses fell into the river with a splash, and the loud neighing sound echoed through the wilderness.
Chapter completed!