"No, no... no pants?!" Even a well-informed veteran like Zhao Tianlin was stunned by Zhong Yaqi's method!
"What's the point of taking off your pants? Besides, on the battlefield, how would you behave if you don't wear pants?" Zhao Tianlin firmly objected for the first time.
It doesn't matter if you win the battle. Taking off your pants to cross the river may not be a good talk, but if you lose the battle, it is not just a matter of winning or losing a battle.
He, Zhao Tianlin, and even the entire Zhou Dynasty will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.
"No! Governor, I have already tried this method! There is absolutely no problem!"
Zhao Tianlin finally decided to give Zhong Yaqi a chance, even though this method sounded outrageous.
"Tell me! What's the solution?"
After Zhong Yaqi sat down, he changed from trying his best to persuade him to being confident now.
"Grand Governor, if the army wants to wade across the river, it must face the cold water. At first, I and my guards tried to wade directly across the river, but without using internal strength, it was not difficult to resist the cold."
"In the river, although the water is bitingly cold, it is bearable. But once we reach the shore, our lower clothes, shoes and socks are all wet, and the cold wind will even condense into ice."
If Yang Qingyuan were here, he could answer Zhong Yaqi's question.
The freezing point of water is zero degrees Celsius. When water does not condense into ice, the lowest temperature of water is zero degrees Celsius.
But it's different on the coast. In early winter, the temperature in northern Jizhou can easily reach below zero.
Therefore, it is not the coldest time in the river. It is the bone-chilling cold after you step ashore.
Although Zhong Yaqi didn't know the principle, he already understood through experiments what was the biggest difficulty in crossing the river.
The cold is not in the water, but in the wind.
During his first test, even those who practiced martial arts and had better physical fitness than ordinary people could not withstand the cold.
If it weren't for the internal energy to resist, Zhong Yaqi might have had the cold wind enter his body, causing the wind to cause fever.
Zhao Tianlin listened thoughtfully to Zhong Yaqi's words, that's it...
While Zhao Tianlin was thinking, Zhong Yaqi had already expressed his solution.
"The general thought that since the wet and cold underwear and footwear are the biggest difficulty when we get to the shore, wouldn't we just need to keep the underwear and footwear from getting wet?"
Zhao Tianlin's originally slightly muddy eyes lit up, and he seemed to understand what Zhong Yaqi said about the beauty of taking off his pants to cross the river.
"My ten personal guards and I tried to take off our shoes, socks, and lower clothes, and then entered the water. According to our tests at night, the time required to wade across the river under normal circumstances is less than a quarter of an hour."
"After we landed ashore, we immediately dried our bodies with a dry cloth, and then quickly put on our underwear, shoes and socks. Although it would be a little cold at first, our bodies would heat up after a while, and it would have almost no impact on the soldiers' fighting."
In the cold winter, people often rub their hands with snow to keep warm. This is actually the body's self-protection function.
Physiologically speaking, the expansion of blood vessels allows more blood to flow to the hands faster, bringing more heat to protect against cold.
Although Zhong Yaqi doesn't know its principle, he knows how to use it.
After listening to Zhong Yaqi's words, Zhao Tianlin's eyes were already shining!
In this way, the army can cross the Baigou River with almost no losses and maintain its original combat effectiveness.
Now that the method of crossing the river has been solved, all that remains is the return of the patrolling light cavalry and a suitable opportunity to cross the river.
"I wonder if Zhao Tianlin has figured out a way to cross the river." King Zhao was now a little worried for Zhao Tianlin.
If Zhao Tianlin could not figure out a way to cross the river, then Zhao Wangjun's previous efforts might have been in vain.
"Wenbi, how is the big gift prepared for Zhao Tianlin?" King Zhao put down the scroll in his hand and asked Zhang Wenbi who was standing beside him.
"Go back to your lord, my brother has been ready for a long time. Now we are only thirty feet away from the Baigou River. With all our strength, it can be completed in less than half an hour. Moreover, there is a hillside blocking the view. The patrol cavalry of the Pingjing Army
There is absolutely no way to find clues on the south bank of Baigou River!"
King Zhao nodded with satisfaction when he heard this. He had put a lot of effort into defeating Zhao Tianlin. Now he was just waiting for Zhao Tianlin to take the bait.
About half an hour later, a dark shadow came from outside the tent.
"Your Majesty, there is news from our spies in the Pingjing Army."
I don’t know that Jin Yiwei placed a large number of undercover agents in King Zhao’s army, and King Zhao also placed undercover agents in Pingjing’s army, but the number was very small, and there were no people in high positions.
Most of them are auxiliary soldiers and logistics personnel.
Only this time, the logistics staff played a huge role in intelligence.
"Your Majesty, our spies have come to report that Pingjing's army has issued an order to distribute dry cloth towels to the entire army and prepare a lot of waterproof kraft paper."
In this case, logistics is what best reflects military operations.
Unless it is a small-scale mobilization of troops and horses, the first thing to make any movement before a war is the military logistics department.
This time, the Southern Army distributed supplies on a large scale, so it must have taken some action.
Although King Zhao's intelligence department could not compete with the Jin Yiwei, the person in charge still had the brains to place this person in this seemingly inconspicuous, but actually critical position. The movements of the Southern Army were detected in advance by them.
After hearing the news, Zhu Kai had a smile on his face.
"It seems that Zhao Tianlin has found a way to cross the river. That's just right. He will cross the river in two days!"
Zhao Tianlin, a veteran, indeed has some real abilities. He is worthy of being an old man brought all the way from the Taizu era.
In this way, your plan can be implemented!
Until now, everything is according to King Zhao's plan.
After the secret guard left, Li Wenbi asked confusedly, "Your Majesty, is there something unknown about the general?"
"Want me to answer my questions?!" From now on, the corners of King Zhao's mouth have been slightly raised, as if he thought of something happy. Although he has not received professional training, fortunately, he has good qi-raising skills.
, no matter how funny something happens, he will not laugh easily unless he can't help it.
"In the intelligence just now, there is only the content of the distribution of supplies, and there is no information about the time and place. How did the prince guess that Zhao Tianlin will take action in the early morning two days later? Please forgive me for being stupid, and please make it clear to the prince."
King Zhao actually guessed Li Wenbi's question, "Wenbi! You have been following me to learn martial arts and tactics, and you are already a talented general. It is more than enough to be a partial division commander, but you are still not enough to become a qualified general who can lead an army alone."
few!"
"To become an excellent general, it is not enough to be brave and lead the troops! A general who does not understand astronomy, geography, strange doors, yin and yang, does not understand the formation map, and does not understand the strength of the army is mediocre."
King Zhao pointed to the sky outside the big tent and said, "Looking into the sky, there are clouds like snakes. Dark clouds cover the day, and the sky is thin. The changes of time have constant laws. I don't know whether it will be sunny or rainy in the end."
"The prince is talking about celestial phenomena?!" Li Wenbi read a lot of military books, but he only had a superficial understanding of astronomy and geography.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were no such categories as astronomers and geographers. These two fields were generally maintained by Taoist priests. Taoist priests who were proficient in astronomy and geography were generally proficient in arithmetic. Such gods and goddesses, they were
The best at it.
"If you look into the sky, there are clouds like snakes. In the morning two days later, there will be heavy fog. And have you noticed that as a result in recent days, there are often cold dew and thin ice on exposed weapons?"
In northern Jizhou, the winter weather has always been dry, and now there are cold dews, indicating that the air has become humid, and humid air is also a necessary condition for the formation of heavy fog.
Zhao Tianlin wanted to cross the river. If there was heavy fog as a cover, he would get twice the result with half the effort. He had absolutely no plans to miss such a God-given opportunity.
"Wen Bi, please order all armies to start taking action! I cannot bear to lose this veteran general's lifelong reputation in my hands!"
Although he said it was a pity, King Zhao would not hesitate in his heart. He was a heroic figure like Emperor Wu of Wei.
I would rather teach me to fail the people of the world than let the people of the world fail me!
"yes!"
…
In the mountains one hundred and twenty miles east of Baigou River, there was a troop stationed. These were not originally the troops of King Zhao, but the troops of King Ning Zhu Quan.
In the previous conflict between the two, Zhu Quan was pushed to the ground and rubbed by Zhu Kai, and Zhu Kai easily took over all of Zhu Quan's power.
There are 30,000 elite cavalry here, all from the elite Wuliangha Three Guards.
King Zhao has not used this cavalry for a long time. Firstly, because it was originally Zhu Quan's direct lineage and needed to be reorganized and transformed to completely control it; secondly, King Zhao also wanted to use this cavalry as a general.
Send a surprise force to deal with the central government.
Now, because Qiu Fu's underestimation of the enemy's rash advance resulted in an unfavorable battle situation, Zhu Kai could only send this army to the battlefield in advance.
After a while, Li Yuan came to the big tent.
"General Li Yuan, please see the prince!" Li Yuan was inspecting the defense of the camp when he suddenly received a summons from King Zhao. He immediately put down his work and rushed here.
"Boan, you are here!"
“I wonder what the prince’s urgent call is for me!”
King Zhao admired this general very much. Li Yuan was an enhanced version of Qiu Fu. Although he was not as brave as Qiu Fu, he was equally good at advancing with light cavalry and more calm.
But before, because he was not as innocent as Qiu Fu, King Zhao did not reuse him. Now that Qiu Fu is dead and the battle is lost, this is the opportunity to use Qiu Fu plus.
"Zhao Tianlin will cross the river in the early morning two days later. There is a cavalry hidden eighty miles to the west. I give you a chance to prove yourself! After Zhao Tianlin crosses the river, lead his army across the river to sneak attack on his camp."
Li Yuan's eyes lit up when he heard this. If it is true as King Zhao said, then this is indeed a good opportunity.
"Not just you, there is also an elite cavalry team in the east who will also cross the river to assist you."
In the current camp, Li Yuan and Wang Cong are the main generals. Li Yuan is good at using cavalry, so he let him command the cavalry.
Wang Cong is one of the few people in King Zhao's army who is good at using infantry and defense. He is proficient in formations and good at resisting cavalry offensives. He is the perfect choice to defend Zhao Tianlin's army from attacking.
As long as Zhao Tianlin's frontal offensive cannot break through, Li Yuan and the Wuliangha cavalry will have a great chance of defeating the Pingjing Army's camp.
Once the camp is broken, coupled with King Zhao's other strategy, the morale of the Pingjing army will immediately drop to freezing point.
When the time comes, it will be easy to defeat Ping Jing's army.
Li Yuan is ready to fight, and this is a good opportunity for him to make contributions and prove himself.
"Your Majesty, the last general will march forward unwaveringly and attack the enemy camp!"
King Zhao admired Li Yuan's determination very much, "Okay, then you set off immediately, take a small group of soldiers and horses, and go to the camp to the west to command the cavalry."
After saying this, King Zhao took out a military talisman from his arms and threw it to Li Yuan.
King Zhao had extremely strict control over military power. The only person in King Zhao's army who could easily mobilize troops was himself. Even his three sons could not mobilize troops without military symbols.
Although Li Yuan was also a general of King Zhao's army, without this military talisman, he could only stare blankly when he arrived at the camp.
…
After Li Yuan took the military talisman, he ordered the Baiqi personal guards and headed west.
This group of 50,000 cavalry is stationed next to Zhaojiazhuang. Although Zhaojiazhuang is geographically in the middle reaches of Baigou River like Baigouhe Town, it is more than a hundred miles away from Baigou River. In addition,
It was on the other side of the river, so the patrolling cavalry of the Pingjing Army had never discovered this cavalry unit.
Li Yuan and his party traveled lightly and quickly. In just an hour and a half, they arrived at Zhaojiazhuang and took over the fifty thousand elite cavalry.
…
Two nights later, the Pingjing Army camp, which should have been silent, seemed to be commotion in the dark, like an undercurrent hidden under the water.
General Zhao Tianlin personally led his troops across the Baigou River and went directly to the camp of King Zhao's army. If they could fight in formation and even capture King Zhao alive, the Jingnan chaos could be put down.
General Zhao Tianlin personally led an army of 100,000 people across the twenty-five-strong army and crossed the river, with 50,000 soldiers and horses as backup. The remaining 100,000-strong army stayed in the camp and was commanded by Zhao Wu.
Although Zhao Wu was only a deputy general, he made rapid progress during this battle. He had previously commanded his troops to withstand an onslaught of nearly three times Wang Cong's troops.
His commanding ability has been continuously improved during the war, and there may be no guarantee that he can storm the enemy camp, but if he only defends the main camp, he probably won't go wrong.
Originally, Zhao Wu wanted to exchange with Zhao Tianlin. Although Zhao Tianlin was a veteran, he was nearly eighty years old after all and his energy and blood were withered.
But he was rejected by Zhao Tianlin because the current Zhao Wu lacked the sharpness that an offensive warrior should have.
Zhao Wu was a general who was more than heavy-handed but lacked sharpness.
"Send the order to the scout camp to send out all the troops immediately, and go up and down the Baigou River for fifty miles to conduct a close inspection. If there is news of the rebels crossing the river, report it immediately!" Zhao Tianlin sent the order to the scouts in the camp.
"Got the order!" The captains of the scout battalion and the ranger battalion came out to receive the order.
Zhao Tianlin also thought about the possibility that King Zhao would make a detour and cross the river from other places and then attack by surprise.
Therefore, he made complete preparations before sending out troops. As long as he could detect the enemy's movements in advance, it would not be difficult for Zhao Wu to hold the camp.
As time passed, the fog began to condense, and the water vapor from the Baigou River made the fog thicker.
When the opportunity Zhao Tianlin was waiting for arrived, he focused his eyes and waved his hand.