It was around noon the next day.
Lu Yao led the war horse and walked slowly on the mountain road. He pulled the reins with one hand and explored the road ahead with a long spear in the other hand. He couldn't help but sweat bleed out from the corner of his forehead. The sweat stained with the iron helmet and immediately turned into white frost.
The green horse under his crotch was a good horse captured from the Huns after the Battle of Banqiao. Although it was extraordinary, it lacked training and had a very violent temper. The mountain road was rugged and steep, and the snow covered the road, which made him have to control the foothold of the horse with great care, otherwise falling into the valley would be no joke.
After walking a few steps, Lu Yao climbed up a high slope and looked back. Wherever he saw, except for the snowflakes rolling in the air, only this small team was moving forward with difficulty.
Their queues were long in the mountains, and figures appeared and disappeared between the two ridges. Even for these 500 powerful soldiers who had been on the battlefield for a long time, marching in the wild in this cold winter is still an unimaginable task. So the soldiers were all not so energetic, and I believe everyone complained in their hearts.
The first half of this twelfth lunar month was constantly marching and fighting. The soldiers thought that they could calm down a few days after they arrived in Jinyang, and at least they could pass the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day safely. Who knew that they had to leave Jinyang City and camp in the wilderness of Zhongdu County.
The day before yesterday, when Lu Yao announced that he had been exempted from training that day because of the snow, many soldiers were still very happy. In fact, they had already complained that this general Lu was good at everything, but he was so good at trouble. He practiced differently and exhausted his brothers every day. The time came for this snow, and he finally had a rest!
This sense of happiness reached its peak at noon. During lunch, each soldier received four extremely solid baking pancakes, and each soldier also shared a pot of extremely fragrant mutton soup. The golden baking pancakes emitted an attractive aroma, and the large portions of bones and meat were floating in the soup, which made the soldiers saliva almost flow into a river. Such a sumptuous meal may not be enjoyed every day, and the soldiers were all satisfied. Unfortunately, happiness always comes and goes quickly. Before lunch was digested, Lu Yao ordered the entire army to go out.
Although this was a bit unexpected, it was nothing for a sumptuous lunch. So just like every long-distance running exercise, each soldier carried a full set of weapons, armor, bedding, supplies, and thick winter clothes, and set off in a line.
But no one expected that this time it was not usually practiced. The soldiers followed the dancing military flags in the front of the team all the way south, and then walked to the middle of the night!
Lu Yao did not choose to go along the main road with great fanfare, but entered a winding path shortly after departure. Under the cover of heavy snow, they quietly bypassed the cities, forts and villages along the way, heading straight to the south of Zhongdu. This path traveled between poor mountains and rivers, and was rarely known, so it was abandoned for a long time. The forwards of the team often used a sharp knife and axe to cut off the thorny branches blocking the road, and drove out a road, so they consumed a lot of physical strength. Shortly after departure, they had to select soldiers to rotate as forwards.
As the snow drifted, the weather became colder and colder. In such severe weather, no one in Bingzhou except Lu Yao and his troops would move in the wilderness. Even the wolves that often wandered around the field were hiding. Several clever soldiers dug out several holes during the march and dug out hibernating hedgehogs, squirrels, etc., and planned to eat extra meals at night.
On this day, the team's itinerary reached a full fifty miles. None of the 500 soldiers fell behind. This was first thanks to the support of the officers, and secondly, the soldiers' perseverance was greatly enhanced by the rigorous training these days. In fact, falling behind almost means death in such a harsh environment.
After resting in the shelter in the mountains for a night, the next day they continued to follow the path south. The terrain of Zhongdu County gradually became higher and steep from north to south, and the road gradually became rugged. The ravines and jungles along the way were densely packed, which was quite difficult to walk. Sometimes, it seemed as if the distance was within reach, but they had to climb down to the depths of the valley first and then walk a long way back. The soldiers had crossed more than ten hills from morning to afternoon, and the journey was less than thirty miles. Because they were carrying heavy weapons and armor, the soldiers were very exhausted. If Deng Gang had not given everyone thick cakes and large pieces of dried meat as supplies before departure, some people would have been unable to hold on until noon. But the soldiers were not good at complaining, because Lu Yao himself walked the same way as the soldiers, and he carried far more things than the soldiers.
The soldiers became Lu Yao's subordinates for only twenty days, but they all deeply felt the difference between Lu Yao and other officers. He was brave and led by the soldiers in battle. He treated the soldiers with kindness and kindness and never abused the soldiers. All the dead and injured were given pensions; he ate and slept with the soldiers, and rarely had special enjoyment; he had very strict requirements on training, but the slogan "sweat more in peacetime and less in wartime" was indeed reasonable. Such a general is worth following... Many soldiers thought so, and continued to move their legs mechanically and struggling through the mountains.
Zhu Sheng was one of the prisoners who surrendered to Yueshi after the Battle of Banqiao. Most of the prisoners were Lushui, Hu, Xi, Jie, etc. from Hexi, but Zhu Sheng was the only Han people. Although the troubled times were difficult and there were often times when things were helpless, the soldiers still did not like him very much. Zhu Sheng's life in the army was really miserable. For example, during this attack on Qi County, many companions stuffed heavy luggage into his package, causing him to carry almost three times the weight he was carrying. Such a load almost drained every piece of his energy over the course of dozens of miles, so that his steps became empty.
"Huhu...Huhuhu..." Zhu Sheng gasped like a bellows and tried hard to keep up with the team. Unexpectedly, his feet slipped and he staggered. Zhu Sheng grabbed the ground with both hands, but he couldn't stop his body sliding along the steep slope on the roadside towards the deep ravine. He was about to fall into flesh mud, but suddenly he felt his wrist tightening and a powerful force immediately pulled him back to the road. It turned out that Lu Yao was nearby. Seeing that the situation was not good, he rushed to save him.
Zhu Sheng thanked him repeatedly, Lu Yao just patted his shoulder and said simply: "Be careful to rush on the road, don't fall again!" Then he went straight to the rear of the team.
Zhu Sheng tightened his bag again, jumped and felt the load under his shoulders. When he was about to continue moving forward, he suddenly felt a severe pain like a needle piercing from his knees. He swears and sat down to the ground involuntarily.
The mountain road was already narrow, so he closed the road half as he sat like this. The other soldiers passed by him one by one, without trying to help him. There was a faint curse in the queue not far away, and some soldiers simply stepped over his head. Zhu Sheng had no response to this extremely humiliating behavior. He bent and stretched his left leg in a little cowardly, and it took a long time to stand up again. As soon as he took a step, his face showed a painful expression.
"Are you sprained? Come on the horse, I'll take you for a ride!" At some point, Lu Yao had already returned from the back team. He led his horse and patted the saddle and said to Zhu Sheng.
Zhu Sheng waved his hands around and said in surprise: "This is not something you can do! How dare the villain ride on the general's horse?"
"Everyone eats on the same stove and fights in the same camp. They are brothers in robes. During the march, we join hands and support each other. On the battlefield, we will definitely hold our lives and death together and never leave us. If the brothers are in trouble, even if there are swords and fires blocking the road, I will come to rescue me. If I am in trouble, I think my brothers will save me." Lu Yao said seriously: "Since that's the case, what's the point of riding my horse!"
The soldiers around him could hear these words clearly, and many of them showed a deeply moved expression.
Zhu Sheng still wanted to refuse, but Lu Yao said unquestionably: "Don't be too long-winded and get on the horse!" As he said that, he stretched out his arms to hold Zhu Sheng's elbow and half-forcedly let him sit on his horse.
At this moment, the greeting of the guide forward came from the fierce wind: "General! General!" Lu Yao threw the reins to a personal soldier and turned to greet the guide.
The guide was about forty years old, with a vicissitudes of appearance, but his hands and feet were still flexible. He was a member of the Wen clan of Qi County, Qi County, Taiyuan. Since the Han Dynasty, the Wen clan of Qi County has been crowned for generations and has produced high-ranking officials such as the Three Dukes. Although Wen Qiao's branch moved to Luoyang for many years, it still has a close relationship with his hometown in Taiyuan. Not only did he have countless disciples and officials, but the Wen clans who stayed in Taiyuan were also powerful families in Taiyuan. There were two forts and nearly a thousand household registrations. Under Wen Qiao's instigation, Wen Xu, the chief of the Wen clan of Qi County, had visited Yue Shigong a few days ago and offered 3,000 stones of grain, greatly alleviating the dilemma of shortage of food in the army. Lu Yao sent troops this time, specially supplemented sufficient food from the Wen clan through Wen Qiao's relationship and invited several guides to guide the way. If not, it would be difficult to march in the heavy snow.
"General, there is a leeward valley that crosses this mountain, which is just for the brothers to rest. After leaving the mountain pass, it is only five miles away from Takumugang. It takes half an hour to walk along the road." The guide said respectfully, his gray beard trembling in the cold wind.
Lu Yao nodded slightly, took a half-full wine gourd from the horse's back and handed it over: "Thank you for your hard work, please drink some wine to warm up your body."
When the guide left, Lu Yao hurriedly urged his troops to rush to the valley. In such a cold weather, after a day's journey, if the hot food and rest were not supplemented in time, the troops would have almost no combat effectiveness; not to mention that there were necessary mobilization and promises before the war, and a proper environment was needed.
After the soldiers settled down, Lu Yao summoned officers above the commander.
"That's our goal." He stretched out his index finger, and was heavily located on the map.
"Guo Family Fort!" Chu Kun shouted in response.
"That's right!" Lu Yao nodded slightly: "Since the wealthy families in the southern Jinyang regard the Guo family as the leader and perfunctorily treat the court, I will use the thunderous force to take the head of the Guo family to shock the rest! Those wealthy families are just people who bully the weak and fear the strong. Since the evil ones are punished, the rest of the families will naturally be in vain."
Shen Jin slapped his high fives: "Okay! My big knife has been so hungry!"
Gao Xiang even smiled grimly: "Daoming shouldn't have paid attention to these pigs and dogs, and he should just use a knife to speak."
These two people are brave and fierce characters who are afraid that the world will not be in chaos. A few days ago, Lu Yao repeatedly recruited a wealthy family and was so angry that they both became extremely angry. When he heard that there was a war to fight, he immediately jumped out.
Xue Tong is also a brave general, but compared to these two, he obviously has a little more calmness. He pondered and looked at the map: "The Guo family is a famous family in Bingzhou. Although this branch is not a legitimate lineage, it is prosperous and has a strong power in the local area. Although it is a delusion to make progress, it is more than enough to protect itself. With our army's strength, it is probably not the best strategy to attack the fort... I believe there is another trick?"
Chapter completed!