On the fifth day of the march, the main force of the army quickly crossed Juyong Pass.
It is said that the name of Juyong Pass originated from the Qin Dynasty. It is said that when the First Emperor built the Great Wall, he moved prisoners, soldiers and forcibly recruited civilians to live here to build Xiongguan. Juyong Pass also means to move to the common people.
The first time a large army was stationed at Juyongguan was when the Jin Kingdom was still there. Wanyan Gang and Shuhu Gaoqi led an army of 100,000 to defend it. At that time, the Jin army smelted iron to seal the north entrance of the gate, and spread iron and caltrops for more than a hundred miles to strengthen themselves.
As a result, Genghis Khan used Zhabalhuo as the leader and led the brave general Zhebie to attack the south entrance on a small road. The north entrance was so dangerous that it could not be broken, and the defense system that he had worked so hard to build was finally burned down.
After the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Zhao Jue, who had won Guo Ning's trust, led the defense of the north of Zhongdu and mobilized many civilians to gradually restore the necessary defense facilities.
However, the Zhou Dynasty's tactics in northern Xinjiang were different from those of the Jurchens who only knew how to be beaten passively. Therefore, the greatest effort was actually spent on the expansion of roads and military stations along the way. In other words, the emphasis was not on the function of closing doors to block the enemy, but on the function of closing doors to block the enemy.
We hope that the transportation of troops and supplies can be quick and easy. Once the police arrive, the main force of the army will immediately dispatch a counterattack.
However, even though the army moved as fast as the wind, when they left the pass, traces of frost and snow could already be seen vaguely on the mountains surrounding the pass. Even at the junction of the mountain tops and the pass formed by the sudden slope of the terrain, the vegetation was obviously withered.
Withered.
When the army marched on the sixth and seventh days, on the plateau and plains they were traveling through, frozen ice began to appear on the shady side of the shallow hills. Those places where the withered yellow weeds and yellow-brown sandstones were cut off should have been swamps.
and creeks, most of which have now turned into hard ground.
Many cavalrymen simply left the road and marched along this flat ground at no slower speed than on the road. They only had to be careful to rein in their horses occasionally to avoid the annoying continuous pits.
It is a hollow structure caused by the ice and snow melting during the day when the loose land near the water source freezes and arches at night. It is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye because it is covered with dead grass.
Zhang Pingliang led several cavalrymen to scout ahead of the marching route. These large and small mud pits brought them a lot of trouble.
Horses are different from vehicles. If the wheels are stuck, all you need to do is pull them out with all your strength. But horses are alive and quite valuable. If the horse's legs are sunk deep in the mud, if others forcefully pull them out, it will easily cause hoofs or legs.
For injuries to bones and joints, experienced knights know that it is best to encourage the horse to break free on its own.
That would be very time-consuming and energy-consuming. Not to mention that in the scout's mission, detecting the terrain and alerting those who come after is a very important part. Every time the horse is urged to struggle out, branches must be stacked next to it to show warning signs.
The several cavalrymen struggled along the way, dealing with either mud or wood. They were very tired. Both men and horses were wheezing and puffing out white steam when they moved.
Some people complained while urging their horses, saying that this kind of hard work should be done by the light cavalry of Long Xiang's army, or by the tribal cavalry under Qiu Huiluo. It's not that it's too tiring, it's mainly to avoid being spotted by sentries.
The information is collected separately and all kinds of useless work is done.
Zhang Pingliang knew that the light cavalry of Long Xiang's army or the tribal cavalry under Qiu Huiluo must have dispersed long ago. Not only them, but also the subordinates of the Recording Department. The emperor was born in the army, and he was no longer familiar with the various routines and abuses in the army.
It is clear that the reason for doing this is to eliminate the possibility of delayed information transmission and ensure that the emperor can hear and see clearly under any circumstances.
Especially at this time.
This morning there was intelligence that the Mongolian army continued to move south and had crossed Yehuling; and the partial divisions that were previously active in Tiancheng, Huai'an, Hongzhou and other places were also moving eastward. At the marching speed of the Mongols, dozens of
It only takes half a day to cover a hundred miles, so today the generals sent out more scouts. The extra scouts sent out were all carefully selected experts. They were also ordered to be fully armed and not to slack off in the slightest.
Since he is a good player, he rarely undertakes such arduous tasks, so it is normal for everyone to complain.
However, they all have rich experience and will not make fun of their own lives. They will complain and complain. They are extremely vigilant and full of energy along the way.
Zhang Pingliang himself led five cavalrymen walking on both sides of the more conspicuous rammed earth road. He also separated out a few more cavalrymen to form another group, keeping a distance without straying far away.
These cavalrymen did not carry luggage or military uniforms, and were only equipped with light bows and fast horses, and they only walked on the back side. When Zhang Pingliang and others walked on the sunny side of the slope, they walked on the shady side; when Zhang Pingliang and others walked on the higher ridge of the slope, they walked on the low ground.
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As the saying goes in the military, "walk on the tiger's den, walk on the tiger's tail" is actually like this, not a trick that the literati came up with. This was originally a special skill of a veteran scout, but he regarded it as a way to save his life on the battlefield.
The secret of passing it on has only been gradually popularized through military academy training in the past two years.
This approach requires a tacit understanding between the light and dark sentries, and also tests both sides' judgment of the terrain. Fortunately, Zhang Pingliang has worked hard in various places in Liaodong for many years, and has considerable experience in the movement of small teams. His subordinates also have
As a veteran, every move will naturally follow the rules.
Just when a cavalryman complained loudly, a whistle suddenly sounded from the direction of "Tiger's Tail", followed by shouts and shouts.
Did they really hit each other?
Zhang Pingliang was shocked.
Now that we have sent out the sentry, we are naturally mentally prepared to engage the enemy at any time. But the Mongolian Aljin Red Cavalry is famous for its fierce reputation. Who doesn’t know it? Zhang Pingliang has bought a family and a wife in the past two years.
The children, not as poor as in previous years, were actually a little shaken at that moment.
But the instincts shaped by battlefield battles and arduous training immediately overcame all wavering thoughts. Before his subordinates could catch up, Zhang Pingliang said nothing and urged his horse to run towards the sound of the thunder.
As soon as they passed a stone's throw away, they found traces of several foreign cavalry.
Apparently they discovered Zhang Pingliang and others in advance, so they took their horses aside and crouched among the thorns and grass to peer around. However, they did not notice that a secret sentry from the Zhou army arrived behind them. The secret sentry took all their movements into consideration and raised his hand.
A thunderbolt shot out.
The tracks of the foreign cavalry were exposed, and they had no time to mount their horses. They hurriedly took out bows and arrows from their sides and shot at the charging cavalry. These people had outstanding shooting skills, but the secret sentries had no armor protection in order to move around easily. When one of them was hit by an arrow in the shoulder,
Another war horse was hit by an arrow in the chest, and ran away while neighing and stabbed diagonally.
Seeing that the remaining two men were urging their horses to rush closer, the foreign knights drew their scimitars at their waists to resist. Only one person reacted a little slower, holding his bow flat and hesitating for a moment.
Coincidentally, at this moment Zhang Pingliang rushed over on horseback, and the man turned around and shot an arrow, hitting Zhang Pingliang in the forehead!
Zhang Pingliang's subordinates were all in an uproar. Seeing the arrow feathers shaking on his forehead, they thought that the arrow cluster must have entered his brain and that he would fall off his horse and die immediately.
The strange thing was that Zhang Pingliang only shook his head. Instead of falling off his horse, he continued to charge forward without stopping, and rushed into the enemy crowd in the blink of an eye.
The enemy knight who had shot the arrow was holding his horse's spine and jumping up. Seeing Zhang Pingliang rushing towards him, he climbed onto the horse's back with one hand, leaned over and picked up the javelin hanging next to the saddle, raised the spear and stabbed.
Zhang Pingliang dodged sideways, but instead of slashing with his sword, he stretched out his arm and used the long bow in his hand to wrap the enemy rider's neck. The enemy rider tried his best to shrink his head, but he didn't have time!
Under the high speed given by the war horse, the tough bowstring passed along his jaw, picking off the entire layer of flesh attached to the jawbone like a blade, and then cut close to the bone to the neck, instantly cutting off the trachea and blood vessels.
, until it embeds into the neck bone.
The huge resistance stretched the bow string to the limit, and then it broke with a "bang". The force burst before the break, flipping the entire head back to a terrifying angle. A column of blood spurted out from the gap.
, sprinkled all over Zhang Pingliang's body.
Zhang Pingliang also felt severe pain in his palms and forearms, and could no longer hold the bow. He staggered on his horse, and then felt something was distracting in front of him, so he simply threw the bow away and raised his head to pull it out.
When he pulled it out, he realized it was a rough short arrow. The pain in his forehead started at this moment, and blood flowed down his eyebrows like a stream. It turned out that the enemy had just fired an arrow from close range and hit the helmet directly, first penetrating the front of the helmet.
The thickened iron eyebrows penetrated through the helmet and injured Zhang Pingliang's head.
Zhang Pingliang wanted to take off his helmet to see if there was anything wrong with his head, but he couldn't care about it for a moment. He threw away the short arrow and drew his knife with his backhand. When he saw another enemy cavalry in front turning his horse back, he swore: "It's amazing how many people are on my head."
Hole! Killing one more is not enough!"
When the enemy knight turned around, he saw Zhang Pingliang pulling out a bloody arrow from his head.
These people did not see Zhang Pingliang severing the enemy's neck with a bowstring, but they only knew that the blood all over his body came from his head.
After so much blood was shed, he still didn't die, and he still shouted and continued to fight as usual. What is this if he isn't a ghost?