Early Autumn in the 30th year of Liang Li

The grassland outside Fengju City was replaced by the green green in summer without realizing it. Fengju City had been in trouble for more than half a month, 40,000 Xuanjia Army, 60,000 Chiwei Army and 100,000 Guangyuan Army gathered outside Fengju City. The commander of the Eastern Expedition was King Yu, the commander of the left army was Yang Zhong, the commander of the right army was Chen Yongnian, the commander of the Chiwei Army was Geng Yan, the commander of the left army was Feng Chu, and the commander of the Wugongwei Army. Commander Gu Hongxuan, commander Jiang Xiaoyu, commander of Tenglong Guard; commander He Yunke, commander of the left-ranking guard of the Right Army, commander of the Left Wu Guard Lu Wenxuan; commander of the Jinjia Guard of the Central Army, and commander of the Handao Guard Xia Junmao. Most of the elite troops of the three armies gathered in Fengjucheng, which shows that Emperor Liang attached importance to the Eastern Expedition. The vast army of 200,000 people was very important. For this reason, the court sent Sima Army, Han Bing, personally escorting the food and grass.

"Fifty miles outside the Fengju City is the Yelongshui River, which is the boundary river between Daliang and Donghu. After autumn, the water rise period has arrived. The first pass of our eastern expedition is how to safely allow the army to cross the Yelongshui River. After all, only twenty miles away is the first city of Donghu, Wulei City. The guard is Mo Hu. According to the scout, there are about 50,000 troops stationed in the city." Facing the sand table, he talked freely. He Yunke, a black and golden armor set off his strong figure, with a good appearance, standing just after he passed, and speaking calmly and powerfully.

King Yu agreed very much, "We Chen army has been in the throne for nearly one month, and Donghu cannot not know that as the first level, they will definitely do their best to block us from crossing the river. That was the time when our army had the weakest combat effectiveness."

"I thought I would send archers to suppress the other side of Yelongshui. The engineer seized the opportunity to swim and build a floating bridge. There was nothing else to do." Jiang Xiaoyu spoke. Compared to He Yunke, he was older, and his pair of hanging eyes on his narrow cheeks seemed very smart. As the commander of the Tenglong Guard, he had rich practical experience and his words were also important.

"That's right, there is no other way. If the night dragon water enters the dry water period until the spring is coming next year, it will be much easier for our army to survive, but the emperor is too impatient." Lu Wenxuan was the youngest among all the commanders present, and he spoke straightforwardly. Such a temperament must be difficult to tolerate in the court, but Xuan Shaoning liked to date such young, promising and straightforward people from the bottom of his heart.

"General Lu Lang is still so quick!" Feng Chu, the commander of the polite guard, was the oldest, his clouds were already frosted, and the wrinkles on his forehead and corners of his eyes were like a knife carving. He was nearly 60 years old but he was full of energy. "As a soldier, he has the responsibility to obey military orders, since the emperor has issued an order, we can only do our best!"

"What General Feng Lang said!" King Yu respected the old general very much. Although his military rank was not high, he was experienced and loyal to the country. "He followed General He Lang's plan and began to cross the night dragon water tomorrow at Yin."

"General, the strategy was proposed by the last general, so the last general led the army to cross the river first!" Faced with He Yunke's volunteering, King Yu pressed his shoulder heavily to show his agreement.

In the early morning of the seventh day of the 9th month of the 30th year of Liangli, at the hour of Yin, an army appeared in the west of Yelongshui. Although there were many people, the entire army was silent. With the mist on the Yelongshui, the engineer battalion took the lead in the water. The engineers carried the wooden board on their shoulders, quickly connecting the wooden boards to the head and tail, and fixed the temporary floating bridge with rattan soaked with water and oil. A wooden stake was set under the water at every eight engineers to strengthen the floating bridge.

King Yu was riding on the war horse in military uniform, surrounded by the generals of the three armies. As the captain, Xuan Shaoning was standing at the front of the team and holding his breath, watching the engineer battalion extending inch by inch towards the opposite bank of Yelongshui. Beside him and not far behind him, Shi Gong Zhengyuan, Siheng, Ling Feiyan and 200,000 soldiers of Daliang stood motionless.

After the autumn, the temperature in the wasteland began to drop. This moment was the coldest time before dawn, but all the generals and soldiers were not affected by the cold at all. They were focused on the engineers. The well-trained engineer battalion lived up to the expectations. In just half an hour, the floating bridge was approaching the center of the Yelongshui. A light spot happened to appear at this night sky before dawn. Soon there was more and more light spots, and in a short while half of the sky was filled with countless light spots.

The enemy attacked! The Donghu army on the other side launched an attack on the beam. The light spots in the sky were lit clusters of arrows. The rain of arrows quickly arrived at the engineers who were in the half-cross position. The engineers without weapons had nowhere to hide. In horror, they watched the arrows with fire poking into their bodies. They shouted in a hurry. Seeing that the robe was shot to death and floated away with the water, more engineers could only retreat while trying to hide themselves under the floating bridge as much as possible. More arrows shot on the floating bridge, and soon the floating bridge began to burn.

"Arrowmen line up! Shoot the arrows!"

Under the shouts of the trumpeter, the more dense arrow rain on the brigade began to counterattack. After one round, the first group of archers retreated, and the second group of archers immediately filled up and shot in turn to ensure that the arrow rain kept shooting towards the enemy camp. The strategy worked, and soon the wailings and groans of the Donghu soldiers came from the other side, and the arrows shot at the floating bridge were significantly reduced. The engineer battalion seized the opportunity and immediately replenished the manpower to speed up the construction of the floating bridge.

In order to ensure the construction of the floating bridge, the Daliang army had already made preparations. The number of arrows was far more than that of the Donghu army. Under the constant rain of arrows, the Donghu had no power to counterattack. The engineer battalion finally successfully blocked the floating bridge to the other side of Yelongshui less than half an hour after the war started.

He Yunke roared and led 10,000 left-ranking guards to the floating bridge first and then stepped onto the land of Donghu. After the rain of arrows gradually stopped, the Donghu people immediately launched a ground battle to defeat the Daliang army when it was not stable. Mo Hu personally went to battle to boost morale. For a moment, the Donghu army rushed to the Yelong Water to launch a fierce offensive against the Daliang army that had just stepped onto the land.

He Yunke used a seven-meter-long silver spear. He rode his horse and exerted the power of the silver spear well. He pierced two Donghu soldiers rushing up, throwing the two corpses apart, then swung the enemy close to the war horses a few steps away. Daliang soldiers who crossed the river one after another joined the battle. With tacit cooperation and personal martial arts, the Daliang army slowly expanded the combat circle.

"You must never let the enemy pass through the night dragon water!" Donghu guard Mo Hu shouted at the top of his lungs. Under the call of Yaba, more Donghu soldiers rushed into the combat circle, while other Donghu soldiers picked up bows and arrows again and started shooting at the floating bridge, but they were soon firmly suppressed by the denser rain of arrows on the other side. As the number of Daliang soldiers crossing the river continued to increase, He Yunke became more and more brave as he fought. The left guard tried hard to kill the enemy under his encouragement, and the combat circle expanded towards the Donghu people at a faster speed.

The sound of whimpering flutes sounded across the Yelongshui River, and Donghu soldiers showed signs of retreating. Mo Hu led the remaining soldiers to retreat to Wulei City. He Yunke was eager to make contributions and immediately led his troops to pursue him. King Yu saw this scene, with no expression on his face. Soon Jiang Xiaoyu led Tenglong Guards and Feng Chu led the fuguards to cross the river and join the battle.

"Geng Yan!"

"The last one will be here!"

"Lead the golden armored guards to guard the floating bridge and protect the army's retreat!"

"yes!"

The engineering battalion began to repair some of the burnt floating bridges. Geng Yan and a team of people crossed the river to guard the bridgehead on the side of Donghu. The sound of fighting on the other side was endless, and it gradually weakened from Yin to Chenshi. Xuan Shaoning stood on tiptoe and widened his eyes and saw soldiers with left-held guards appearing on the other side. One of them was wearing yellow armor and rode to Yelong Shuiban and shouted loudly, "Wulai City has been taken down!"

The short words made everyone on Ye Longshui's tense nerves relax instantly. King Yu finally showed a smile. The soldiers who had not participated in the war shouted in unison. The victory of the first battle greatly boosted morale. The soldiers who had participated were proud of themselves and were unable to participate in the war. After several hours of battle, the Daliang coalition forces seized the Wulei City on the banks of Ye Longshui for less than a thousand casualties, which laid the foundation for the subsequent in-depth battle between Donghu and gave the Daliang army a stronghold in the Donghu territory.

"The combat power of Donghu is not as strong as our army. General, we will continue to attack and capture Xinya City 80 miles away from Wulei City!" After returning to the Daliang area, He Yunke, who won the first battle, seemed very excited and was full of confidence in the subsequent battle, so he actively advised.

"At this moment, the unity of the army is indeed a good opportunity to make a concerted effort, but even if the Donghu people are not as good as ours, they must not be careless!" The older Feng Chu was even more cautious. "Xinya City is not far from Wulei City, but this is a stage of excessive transition from the wasteland to the forest. At this moment, Xinya City must have received the news of Wulei City's defeat, and it is hard to guarantee that they will not ambush halfway."

"And according to what we know so far, the defenders of Xinya City have reached 100,000. This city has a high and deep base, easy to defend but difficult to attack. The next one is probably a fierce battle!" Xia Junmao agreed with Feng Chu's opinion.

"Xinya City must be taken down, otherwise our army will take two more days to detour, and keeping Xinya City behind our army is undoubtedly an unstable factor." Jiang Xiaoyu stood on He Yunke's side, believing that Xinya City must be captured first.

Seeing the main generals facing the next battle strategy, Shi Gong Zhengyuan looked at the sand table and said, "Everyone, from the sand table, there is also a city fifty miles southeast of Xinya City." Everyone was attracted by Shi Gong Zhengyuan's words and turned their attention to the small city marked "Rong Mi" on the sand table.

"Here?" Gu Hongxuan, the commander of the Wugong Guard, who had not spoken, seemed to be inspired. "This city happened to be built between two mountains. Crossing this city is a plain with a flat mountain, which is very conducive to cavalry raids. The only passage to enter and exit this forest is at the foot of this city. This lieutenant has good eyesight!"

Shi Gong Zhengyuan blinked at Xuan Shaoning, and a lightning flashed through his mind. "Oh, I have an idea, let me tell you for everyone to discuss!" After receiving the affirmation of King Yu, Xuan Shaoning said: "Our key is to capture Rong Mi City, which will be beneficial to the Daliang cavalry galloping. Therefore, for Xinya City, our army may not have to attack through battle, but can surround it without attacking, so that it cannot convey messages to the outside or send troops to aid Rong Mi City."

"Yes! Besieging Xinya City until the ammunition and food are exhausted, it will be much easier for our army to take it down!" Siheng reacted first and shouted excitedly: "But in this way, the troops will need to be divided into two groups."

"The plan of the Master Xuan is very good!" King Yu praised Xuan Shaoning with praise. "Our army divided into two groups, one of which was to attack Xinya City to siege it, and the other one of which was to attack Rongmi City, and be sure to take it down!"

Under the arrangement of King Yu, Chen Yongnian led the left-rank guard and the left-handed guard to siege Xinya City. Yang Zhong led the Wugong Guard, Tenglong Guard and Handao Guard and Jinjia Guard to attack Rongmi City. The capture of Wulei City on the first day of the war was a great encouragement to the soldiers of the three armies. After only one hour of rest, the army set out to go to the second battlefield. Xinya City was built in the jungle, and the Chiwei Army marched under the city and began to attack the city quickly, causing the situation that it was necessary to take it down. Guangyuan Army and Xuanjia Army took advantage of the chaos to cross the ridge and bypassed Xinya City and rushed straight to Rongmi City. The soldiers were very fast. The 150,000 troops each carried dry food and never buried pots to make rice. They attacked day and night, and finally arrived at Chigui Valley at noon the next day.

"Side by war, although the name of Chigui Valley is ugly, the scenery is really beautiful!" Si Heng couldn't help but sigh in the face of the scenery in front of him. Without deliberately agreeing, the others present also felt the same.

The two sides of the Chigui Valley are covered with walls, and the rocks are in a blood-red color. The drop from the top of the canyon to the bottom of the valley is more than a hundred feet. A stream flows through the bottom of the canyon, covering the crispy grass and lush trees all over the valley, especially the wild flowers everywhere attracting swarms of bees and butterflies. The red cliffs are paired with green valleys and blue streams, which are a beautiful scene in the world. If it weren't for the war, many people would want to remove their armor, wash away the stains on their bodies with clean water, and lie on the grass to look up at the blue sky. It's so beautiful.

"I think it's because of this blood-red rock that is called Chigui Valley!" Ling Feiyan is her daughter's home after all, and she can't help but yearn for the beautiful scenery. Her originally serious expression now became particularly charming under the afternoon sunlight, and Si Heng's eyes were straightened by the sight.

"You are only half right!" An Haoran came to his side at some point, "What you are talking about is the source of 'red', but there is no explanation for the part of 'ghost'."

"Vice An Du, please give me an explanation!" Si Heng asked with great interest.

"Everyone has seen the beautiful scenery in the valley. It's beautiful, but unfortunately it's a poisonous cave. Take the stream as an example. Don't you think it looks too blue at the distance?" Seeing everyone nodding, he continued, "It's because the stream is poisonous. Do you look southeast and see the half-broken mountain in the distance?"

Following An Haoran's direction, the few people looked in that direction. Not far from the hill at their feet, there was a mountain that was not tall. The top of the mountain seemed to be cut with a knife, showing a flat trend. No wonder An Haoran called it "half-broken mountain".

"This stream originates from that mountain. It is said that there is a huge lake at the top of the mountain. The lake water is also so blue. From the mountain, it flows out to the valley. The stream water is extremely harmful to people and animals. If you take a sip, it will die in less than half an hour. And those plants and trees that have been nourished by the stream for many years are also poisonous, and the consequences are the same if they are accidentally eaten or scratched."

"This..." Si Heng widened his eyes in disbelief.

"How did you know?" asked Shi Gong Zhengyuan.

"I was born in Fengjucheng. I have been in contact with Donghu people since I was a child. I have done some small businesses with Donghu people. There are many herbs in them. It should be poisons, but they are the monarchs of some prescriptions. I think Miss Rouge must know it."

An Haoran suddenly threw the topic to Yanzhi, who had been following Xuan Shaoning, which was unexpected. Since Yanzhi's prescription saved the military and civilians in Fengjucheng, her ability has been recognized by the soldiers of the three armies. Therefore, although Xuan Shaoning disagreed with this Eastern Expedition, she still convinced the commander of the three armies to successfully follow the army to the Donghu territory. Xuan Shaoning never knew how she did it.

Seeing someone clicking on him, Yanzhi stood up and said, "Emperor An is right. At this moment, we are standing on the hill and looking into the distance. Just where we can see, I saw several poisonous weeds that are hard to find in the Central Plains. The one with seven purple flowers on one stem is called the Qi Zi Broken Soul Grass. On it, it is tall and a huge orange-yellow plate-shaped flower on the top is called the Zi Zi Si. These two are valuable."

"Didn't you say it's a poisonous weed? Why is it still valuable?" Siheng fully demonstrated his inquisitive nature.

"Because they are two common prescriptions, the 'purple' in Zijincao paste is the seven purple soul-breaking grass, and the 'pure' in the other 'pure' in the Snow Sao Sizhi Decoction refers to the pure silk. These two prescriptions are classics, and they are holy medicines for treating trauma and regulating the body. Moreover, these two poisonous weeds are the priest medicines among the two prescriptions. Traditional Chinese medicine medicine emphasizes the monarch, minister and assistant. Their status can be imagined! The most rare thing is that these two poisonous weeds are not produced in the Central Plains. Now you understand the meaning of great value!"

After listening to Yanzhi's explanation, everyone suddenly realized, and Xuan Shaoning also praised him. An Haoran said, "It is really the best way to bring Miss Yanzhi!" Hearing An Haoran's praise, Yanzhi straightened her waist proudly and winked at Xuan Shaoning, which made Xuan Shaoning shake his head and smile.

"We have figured out the name of this canyon and also known the hidden dangers behind this canyon. But everyone should pay more attention to the city at the top of the canyon." Shi Gong Zhengyuan pointed his hand towards the middle of the canyon.
Chapter completed!