Ren Ning stayed until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. After learning that Xiao Gang's mother and son were safe, she quietly left Xingji City alone.
Braving the wind and snow, he headed eastward. It was not until the Yuanxiao Festival that he arrived at Jiuyuan County.
"Good boy, you are finally back." Chu Jinding, the forward commander, breathed a sigh of relief.
Ren Ning was surprised: "General Chu, what happened to the army?"
According to the plan, the vanguard battalion had to wait until Wei Junqian and other soldiers arrived at Jiuyuan County before continuing north, so as not to lose track of supplies, food and other supplies.
Calculating the distance, it would take at least two days for them to arrive.
"It's none of General Wei's business."
Chu Jinding walked to the map, raised his hand and tapped the map of the peninsula hard.
"I just received the latest news. The east coast of Baekje has been lost, and the entire defenders have been wiped out. At least 100,000 Japanese pirates have landed on Baekje. And there are ships deep in the sea constantly bringing soldiers in."
Ren Ning raised his eyebrows and said, "The Japanese pirates are just going to burn their boats and put them to death to survive."
"That's right." Chu Jinding nodded.
His hand continued to move across the map.
"The Japanese pirates who landed are now divided into two groups. One group goes straight to the capital of Baekje, and the other group fights towards the south bank where Zhongyong Bo Xiao Zheng is. It seems that they want to attack them from both sides on land and sea and trap them on Jinlong Beach."
As he spoke, Chu Jinding frowned deeply.
In addition to Xiao Zheng and 30,000 people who supported Baekje in quelling the Japanese army in Jinlongtan, there was also Qi King Chen Xiuzhu.
It would be extremely embarrassing if the majestic Prince Yunchui was caught or even killed by the little Japanese barbarians.
Fortunately, God is kind.
It's freezing in Baekje now, and the snow is much heavier than here in Yunzhui.
Everyone is in trouble.
Chu Jinding pondered, "With the speed at which the Japanese pirates are moving, it is estimated that they will not be able to reach the Jinlongtan where Xiao Gang is stationed within half a month."
Ren Ning looked at the location of Jinlongtan carefully and suddenly said: "This place must not be lost."
Chu Jinding agreed, "It can't be thrown away."
Although Golden Dragon Beach is called a beach, it is actually a complete port and wharf. And its location is very close to the Baekje Capital. As long as you get ashore from here, you are almost at the foot of the Baekje Capital."
If Jinlongtan is lost, Yun Chui's support must either make a large circle and take the northern land route, or fight the Japanese pirates at sea first.
Once the Japanese pirates occupied this place, they could continuously send soldiers and logistics materials to the capital of Baekje through the sea, and then attack and occupy the entire Baekje from all directions.
"What's our Yun Chui response?" Ren Ning asked.
Chu Jinding's eyes fell on Beiguan Pass and he smiled, not sure whether it was ridicule or appreciation.
"Last August, when the Yanhui Corps received the order to redeploy troops, Tian Hongyan immediately ran away with his troops without even looking at the mess that was Baekje."
"The guard of Beihaiguan is even more invulnerable. Huang Shitao can say that. Unless there is an order from the Ministry of War or an imperial edict from His Majesty, his subordinates will never leave Beihaiguan."
As for the Central Army Corps that initially went north with Xiao Zheng to support Beichuan, they saw that Beixiong had no intention of going south two years ago and had already withdrawn to the camp south of Star City.
Ren Ning wiped his sweat, "So no one is going to save Zhongyong Bo's Japanese army now?"
"That's true." Chu Jinding's hand slid down along the Yunchui coastline and landed on Pinghai County in the middle. "The Ping Japanese army led by Uncle Xiao is actually part of the East China Sea defenders."
"My hometown in Pinghai County received his distress message and is preparing to leave."
Ren Ning was not surprised either.
The duty of the East China Sea garrison or navy is to defend against bandits and Japanese pirates at sea.
Especially after Lieutenant Pinghai led his troops to pacify Laigu County the year before last, the eastern coast was again attacked and plundered by Japanese pirates.
The naval commander at that time was almost scolded by Emperor Changxing.
Therefore, after receiving a rescue letter from Xiao Zheng, he immediately led his troops on board the ship and went to sea.
only,
Ren Ning looked at the distance between Pinghai County and Baekje, "This... the water from far away can't quench the thirst of the near."
Chu Jinding nodded, "It's indeed too far. That's why I'm anxious to wait for you to come back."
"General Wei has sent news, asking us to rush to Beiguan as soon as possible, and then find a way to rescue Xiao Zheng's Japanese army."
Or rather King Chen Xiuzhu of Qi.
Ren Ning's eyes fell on the ocean to the east, and he moved his mouth without making any sound.
If there is a boat, the fastest way is to go directly east to the seaside, and then cross the North Sea to Baekje.
But even if there are boats in the east of Jiuyuan County, they are just fishing boats. The quantity is not large and the quality may not be good.
There are strong winds and heavy snow everywhere now. If the fishing boat is blown apart at sea, there will be nowhere to escape.
"General, are there any warships at Beihai Customs?" Ren Ning asked.
Chu Jinding understood what he meant, "Yes. But its performance is far inferior to that of Pinghai County Navy."
"This is natural." Ren Ning was not surprised.
The navy is a professional warship equipped with all kinds of powerful naval warfare weapons.
The warships of Beihai Customs are not so much warships as they are large cargo ships. They are mainly used to transport logistics and grain to Beihaiguan. Although they are also equipped with giant crossbows, they are not many in number.
Ren Ning nodded, "As long as you have it."
In the Huchou River in the south, each battalion of the Starfall Army took turns to systematically learn water warfare from the Zhennanguan garrison. Although they cannot be said to be good at naval warfare now, at least they are not afraid of naval warfare.
The next day, it still snowed heavily.
Chu Jinding gave the order. Under the leadership of Ren Ning, the forward battalion headed north through the thick snow.
Not long after leaving Jiuyuan Racecourse, we entered the hills, and the road became more difficult as we went north.
The winding post road had long been covered with heavy snow, and the person leading the way had no idea what he would step on next.
Maybe it's a deep pit, ditch or slope.
If you are not careful, you may make someone fall off their feet.
Someone advised Ren Ning, "General, you stay behind for now. We will clear the way in front first. You and your brothers will follow."
Ren Ning shook his head, "No, it's too slow. We can't afford it."
After recruiting four other people, the five horses were marching together with him as the center. The footprints left behind were exactly a post road.
At first, people on both sides were a little trembling and frightened.
They were not afraid of falling, but of falling on the general next to them.
Later, I found that as long as I followed Chai Feng. When the black horse went left, the other four people collectively turned left, and when Chai Feng turned right, they all turned right again. It seemed that they really didn’t encounter too many difficulties.
Sometimes Ren Ning would even sound out to remind the two soldiers next to him to move closer, otherwise they would end up outside the post road.
Some people were still doubtful. When Ren Ning reminded him again, he jumped off his horse and dug through the snow to check.
Sure enough, there is a ditch in front of it made by running water.
Now everyone was in admiration. From their eyes, they couldn't see anything strange at all. They quickly asked Ren Ning how to identify the surface of the earth.
Ren Ning is not stingy, teaching as he goes, and the whole team is not slow at all.