Chapter 235 Bluffing or lure the enemy to go deep?
"General..."
The general of the battalion explained what happened.
The cause was that a soldier of the Yulin Army had been in a daze since Bai Tiao and could not see clearly.
After nightfall, the symptoms became more severe, and I suddenly felt as if I was going blind and immediately became irritable.
Then a fight broke out. The soldier injured someone, and because he was afraid of being punished, he committed suicide with a knife.
Fang Jue sighed after hearing this: "It's snow blindness."
"Exactly." Wei Ran and Sun Yi also knew about this symptom.
No one in the Liangzhou Camp or Lizhou Camp stationed in the north had this disease.
Those who contracted this disease were all members of the Yulin Army.
"General..." Lin Bei was a little embarrassed. He realized that he had been negligent.
Fang Jue sighed: "I was also careless and forgot that you are from the capital."
Snow blindness does not really make you blind. With proper treatment, you can regain your sight. However, if the disease occurs repeatedly in a short period of time, it is very likely that you will really become blind.
The Habayashi officers and soldiers who were exposed to snow blindness for the first time seemed a little flustered by this.
"When looking at things on the snowfield, don't stare directly. It's best to cover your eyes and only expose some gaps." Sun Yi reminded.
Lin Bei cupped his hands: "I've learned a lesson."
Two soldiers died tonight, but fortunately snow blindness has not yet spread to a large extent. From now on, prevention will prevent most soldiers from contracting this disease.
Everyone went back to camp to rest and spent the night smoothly.
Early the next morning, Fang Jue got up and ordered someone to get a basin of snow water, which he heated on a bonfire outside the tent before bringing him cotton cloth to wash his face.
This kind of treatment in the military is pretty good.
After washing up, Fang Jue came to the central army, where the commanders of the three battalions were already waiting there.
"General, according to statistics last night, there were 15 people infected with snow blindness, and 120 people showed signs of the disease. Fortunately, this matter was discovered early."
The military doctor came to report it.
Fang Jue said: "Are they all brothers of the Yulin Army?"
"Yes, among the soldiers in Liangzhou Camp and Lizhou Camp, no one has reported symptoms similar to this disease. It should be because no one has developed the disease," the military doctor replied.
Fang Jue looked at the three generals again:
"Did anyone do anything strange last night?"
"No."
"No one hides anything in Hanzhou City privately, right?" Fang Jue asked again.
"Come back to the general, the military orders are like mountains, naturally no one dares to disobey them." Wei Ran said.
Nodding, Fang Jue was not particularly worried. It was winter, and even poisoning or creating a plague would not be conducive to its spread and disease.
Perhaps Hanzhou City simply abandoned the city and fled because the defenders were timid.
At this moment, the military doctor who had just reported spoke again:
"General, we found something unclean in the well water. Although the river was frozen, we also found corpses soaking in the river."
"Do you really want to poison me?" Sun Yi asked in shock.
Fang Jue nodded: "Hanzhou knows that it cannot defend itself and is unwilling to sacrifice for no reason. Poisoning can only be done casually."
Although the defenders of Hanzhou poisoned the water, it was only a strategic method and they did not expect to successfully poison the entire army.
After all, military doctors exist to prevent this kind of thing.
"Since there is no ambush in Hanzhou, should we continue going north?" everyone asked.
After a night's rest, the soldiers recovered their spirits. There had been no major battles in the past few days, and their full strength was useless.
Along the way, I expected to encounter fierce resistance from the Northern Liang Army, but I didn't expect that Luo Yang really didn't seem to care.
"Further forward, our food road is too long. Once the supply is cut off halfway, we will be in trouble." Fang Jue frowned.
"What are you afraid of? Our army has already caused Hanzhou's defenders to flee, and they still dare to fight back?" Sun Yi said with a smile.
Wei Ran said calmly: "Brother Sun, how can you be sure that the Hanzhou garrison fled towards the north? What if they are hiding somewhere in the south, broken into pieces, and waiting to attack our grain road?"
"Yes, when Linzhou approaches Beiliang's army, we will be trapped in Hanzhou." Lin Bei also realized this danger.
"Brilliant." Fang Jue said with emotion.
In the empty city of Hanzhou, Fang felt at first that the other party was playing a psychological game of concealment.
But from now on, it seems that this move is really clever.
Regardless of whether the opponent really planned to sneak attack on the food road behind the army, or really fled, it left the conquering army with a sense of suspense and uncertainty.
Who dares to bet?
"According to the Shuangzhou defenders, there should be 5,000 Hanzhou defenders, but all of these people suddenly disappeared. If they are really broken into pieces and looking for fighters... our rear may be attacked at any time."
"If this is Luo Yang's plan, to deliberately leave Hanzhou empty, or only Shuangzhou has a large number of defenders, let us speculate cautiously and waste a lot of time and fighter opportunities..."
"That's Luo Yang, don't underestimate him."
"yes……"
The generals were all discussing and expressing their own opinions on this matter, but none of them were very optimistic.
Because from Luo Yang's point of view, even Fang Jue would have a hard time guessing whether he was holding back a trick or setting up a conspiracy.
Hanzhou is empty, does it really mean that it has no troops?
But Fang Jue couldn't gamble.
Because Luoyang Jianbi has been cleared, there is no food left, and the food left behind has to be worried about whether it is safe.
Therefore, it is impossible to support war with war. If you encounter a large number of enemy troops, it will be difficult to win even with firearms. People can avoid war and harassment.
"Should we just give up when things get better, or should we take a big gamble?"
Fang Jue looked to the north and seemed to hear that this was Luo Yang and what he wanted to say to himself.
Give away a state for free.
Luo Yang usually wouldn't dare to do this, as he would be suspected of collaborating with the enemy, but he rebelled, so he could do whatever he wanted, and he didn't have to worry about whether his strategy would dissatisfy Emperor Liang and the Northern Liang court.
Even Fang Jue cannot make the decision to abandon a state at will. Such a strategy is too ridiculous.
Giving away a state's territory for free would definitely be considered treason.
"If Luo Yang really wants to set me up, Wan Yiming's army might really appear in the direction of Linzhou." Fang Jue frowned, thinking about a question.
That is, in Luo Yang's heart, whether he is important or not.
Get the answer quickly – it’s not that important!
If Luo Yang, a person with no martial ethics, really wanted to target him, he would have definitely taken action when they met at Xuegu Pass.
"Don't move forward yet." Fang felt that he was not timid.
But other people thought it was so, and their expressions turned weird.
"Wait, wait for the people from the Musket Bureau to arrive. We can't move forward until then."
Fang Jue didn't care about these opinions. When everyone from the Musket Bureau arrived, even if a battalion of firearms faced thousands of troops, he would not be afraid at all.
"General, if we don't capture the Bailong Snow Mountain in Linzhou as soon as possible, we will have no natural protection against Beiliang, and they can harass them at any time. The land gained in these two states will not be of much significance," Sun Yidao said.
Fang Jue saw that he wanted military glory.
The first contribution of Shuangzhou City was the Firearms Camp. Hanzhou City had no great achievements. It was an empty city that was picked up for nothing and burned.
Linzhou is where they really want to go.
If we wait for the Firearms Bureau to arrive, then the first attack will be from the Firearms Camp, Lizhou Camp or Liangzhou Camp, and they will have no choice but to follow the soup.
After finally going on the northern expedition, everyone became the foil of the Musket Bureau, how could everyone be so willing.
"Send a team of scouts to explore in the direction of Linzhou, and then send a team of scouts in the direction of Shuangzhou." Fang Jue looked at everyone.
"Who is willing to accept the order?"
"I am willing!" Everyone said one after another, fearing that they would be left behind.
The military exploits of a scout are not insignificant. If they obtain important information, they can lead a battle.
Fang Jue nodded: "Bring a few telescopes from the firearms camp."
"Let each of the three camps have a hundred-household camp." Fang Jue said.
"Send a team further west."
To the west, those on guard were naturally the soldiers and horses from the state capital near Beiliang.
Although there was communication from Emperor Zun Pavilion, Fang Jue still preferred to trust the nearby scouts.
"Yes!" The three generals each dispatched a camp of 100 households, led by their own cronies to patrol.
Then the army continued to stay at the camp and light fires to make food. Fortunately, firewood was not difficult to find in winter, and many rotten logs were scattered in the forest.
Although Beiliang is bitterly cold, it is not without vegetation. It’s just that you can’t see those grass plants in winter, but the big trees are still standing tall.
The army stayed for half a day, and Fang Jue suddenly issued an order:
"The firearms battalion hasn't arrived yet, but we can practice the battle formation first."
"Battle formation?" Everyone was puzzled.
Fang Juedao: "The firearms battalion is the main one. Each battalion sweeps the formation to defend the firearms battalion. After the close encounter, the formation is adjusted, and the firearms battalion retreats behind the scenes."
"Is it that simple?" Everyone felt ridiculous. This was not as good as the simplest battle formations.
Fang Jue said calmly: "The most important thing is simplicity. It's as simple as that. Leave a gap for the firearms battalion, and let each battalion form formations and practice first."
"..." The generals were very helpless. The general was here to practice his guns, and he had no intention of letting any of the three battalions be the main force. This chapter has been completed!
