Chapter 156: Practical combat training

On the official road from Lieliu City to Heifengkou, more than 100,000 northern wing troops were like a torrent, slowly moving forward along the official road.

Since yesterday, the marching speed of the North Wing army has been shortened from six hours a day to four hours, and the distance traveled every day has also been reduced from thirty miles to twenty miles, because the closer to the Black Wind, the greater the possibility of being surrounded by the Mingyue Empire Army, Meng Hu must be vigilant.

Looking up at the gloomy sky, Meng Hu suddenly turned around and said to Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao: "Old Qi, Lao Jia, this is wrong. It seems that it is going to snow?"

"Um."

Qi Diaozi nodded with a serious expression and said with concern, "The weather this year is very abnormal. It is already March. In another ten or half a month, the weather will warm up. Why will it still snow? But if it really snows, it is not a good thing for our army. There are many difficulties in marching in the snow."

"That's not necessarily true."

Jia Wudao shook his head and said, "Marching in the snow is difficult for our army, and isn't it also difficult for the enemy? The difficulties are equal. It depends on who can endure hardships and withstand coldness."

Meng Hu ignored the two of them and asked, "Lao Qi, where are you now?"

Qi Diaozi took out the map from his arms, searched on the horse's back for a long time but couldn't find the corresponding position. He could only smile bitterly: "General, you can't find the specific location, but it seems that Heifeng Ridge is ahead, and the Heifengkou should be nearby. After passing Heifengkou, it will be Daojian Gorge two hundred miles west. "

"Sword Gorge?"

Meng Hu murmured in a low voice, "It has been almost half a month since the capture of Lieliu City. From the perspective of time, Qiu Yutang should have known the news that our army was divided into three groups. With Qiu Yutang's wisdom, it is not difficult to judge that the target of our northern wing army is Daojian Gorge, but why has this little widow not acted yet?"

Qi Diaozi thought about it and replied: "There are two possibilities. The first possibility is that Qiu Yutang chose the southern wing army of Chongshan, but Bei Zhi thought that this possibility was very slim."

Meng Hu nodded and asked, "What about the second possibility?"

Qi Diaozi said: "The second possibility is that Qiu Yutang is planning a huge plan. The troops they mobilized are likely to include the six major corpses of the Imperial Guards, Guards, Yunzhou, Bingzhou, Dingzhou and Shuozhou. The total strength will exceed 600,000. Because there are too many troops mobilized, Qiu Yutang will not launch the plan after all the troops arrive at the command area!"

Meng Hu asked in a deep voice: "Lao Qi, if you were Qiu Yutang, how would you deal with the North Wing Army?"

Qi Diaozi said in a voice: "If the Beizhi was Qiu Yutang, he would definitely formulate a battle plan to encircle the four sides and bloom in the center. Simply put, it is to use a small number of troops to defend the Black Wind Tout, drag the general's northern wing army, and then mobilize all the troops that can be mobilized, and move closer to the Black Wind Tout from several directions at the same time, and finally form a siege, encircle the general's northern wing army outside the Black Wind Tout in one fell swoop!"

"What a surrounded by all sides, the center is blooming!"

Meng Hu said, "Hehe, this is what is commonly known as fishing? The small number of defenders in the Black Wind Quest is the bait, Qiu Yutang is the angler, and my north wing army is the big fish she wants to catch. However, even the experienced angler will have a chance to make a mistake. What if the bait is eaten before her army forms an encirclement? How can I catch this fish?"

Jia Wudao joked: "Then I can only accompany you to a bait for nothing."

"Hmph." Meng Hu said with a grim voice, "If Qiu Yutang really dares to do this, I will definitely let him accompany him to a bait for nothing."

Qi Diaozi's expression seemed a little solemn, and she whispered: "General, there is a saying that you may not like to hear, but I still have to say that although Situ Rui is known as an unbeaten general in the Middle Earth world, he is just cautious in using his troops, so he has never suffered a great defeat in his life. But Qiu Yutang is a real famous general. Her wisdom and her military use are definitely not something Situ Rui can defeat. Otherwise, during the Eight Kings Rebellion, she would not have defeated more than three million rebels with just two royal legions!"

"I know this." Meng Hu nodded and said solemnly, "I have no intention of despising her at all."

Qi Diaozi said again: "So have the general thought about it? If you delay too long at Heifengkou and let Qiu Yutang's army catch up, it will be a big trouble! After all, this is Qingzhou, and it is fighting on other people's territory. The enemy knows the terrain here very well, but we are even wrong in the map. It is almost impossible to get rid of the enemy's pursuit at that time!"

"That's not necessarily." Meng Hu said as he looked up at the gloomy sky again, and said thoughtfully, "It depends on whether God is willing to help."

"General..."

As Meng Hu finished speaking, a fast horse suddenly came from the front. Before the people arrived, a shrill long howl had already resounded throughout the central army. "The enemy was found two hundred miles ahead. Judging from the flag and armor standard, it should be the Yunzhou Legion of the Mingyue Empire, with about two divisions!"

"Two hundred miles ahead? That should be the black wind!"

Meng Hu turned around and looked at Qi Diaozi deeply, and said in a deep voice, "Old Qi, you really got the picture. Qiu Yutang, the little widow, really wants to fish!"

"General."

Qi Diaozi advised with a solemn expression, "I think we should be cautious. Since we know that this is a trap set by Qiu Yutang, why should we burrow it in it? We are not afraid of ten thousand, but we are afraid of it."

"This is not good, right?" Meng Hu smiled evilly, "This little widow Qiu Yutang rarely opens the door to greet guests. We have to give some face, haha."

"General." Qi Diaozi changed his color slightly and said anxiously, "Marching and fighting are not a joke."

"Don't worry, Lao Qi, I know it in my heart."

Meng Hu's expression also became solemn, and said, "The army camped on the spot. If it snows heavily tonight, we will continue to march tomorrow. We will eat Qiu Yutang's fragrant bait at the Heifengkou, and we will take the opportunity to train troops. If it doesn't snow heavily tonight, we will retreat immediately and turn to the direction of Tianlang Pass as quickly as possible. We will not wade through the muddy waters in the Qingzhou battlefield!"

"This..." Although Qi Diaozi was very talented, he didn't know what Meng Hu sold in the gourd. He asked in confusion, "If it snows heavily tonight, the road will only be even more slippery and difficult to move forward. Why did the general march towards the Black Wind? I really can't understand it."

Meng Hu smiled slightly and said, "You will know then."

On the western foot of the Jitian Mountains, Hu Xiao Pass went to the official road of Daojian Gorge. More than 100,000 Imperial Army of Mingyue were heading north. Although it was already dark, Qiu Yutang did not intend to camp.

In the carriage, Qiu Yirou quietly lifted the corner of the curtain and looked out, then retracted her little head and said to Qiu Yutang: "Your Highness, it's snowing outside, it's so heavy."

Qiu Hanyun rubbed her little hands that were a little cold and she complained: "No wonder it's so cold, it's snowing."

"well."

The young Prince Mingyue, Qiuye, suddenly sighed and said with a sad expression, "The weather has begun to warm up in previous years, but this year the weather is abnormal. When the enemy invades launch a large-scale invasion, it has caused the people of the empire to suffer."

Qiu Yutang couldn't help but look a hint of joy in his beautiful eyes. He thought to himself that Ye Er had shown his military talent at such a young age. He would definitely become an excellent military commander in time. What is even more gratifying is that Ye Er seemed to be more sympathetic to the people than the emperor's brother and more charitable. It is really a blessing for the people of Mingyue to have such a good prince who can be literary and martial.

When Qiu Yutang was feeling emotion, Qiu Ye Yufeng turned around and asked again: "Auntie, you haven't answered your nephew's question yet. Are the two Yunzhou divisions of Governor Yao Chang's just bait to lure Meng Hu into the hub?"

Qiu Yutang sighed softly, touched Qiu Ye's little head, and said softly: "Ye'er, remember, Governor Yao Chang's two Yunzhou divisions are not baits, they are the heroes of the empire! They are heroes, do you understand?"

Qiuye nodded, though he was very knowledgeable. Although this little guy was very talented in military talent, his political knowledge was slowly cultivated. Yao Chang's two Yunzhou divisions were actually baits set by Qiu Yutang, but as a superior, the word bait cannot be easily revealed from his mouth.

Two hundred miles south of Black Windkou, the western legion is stationed.

Meng Hu woke up and saw that the light outside the tent was bright. When he suddenly lifted the tent out, the dazzling light suddenly pierced him instinctively closed his eyes. It took a long time to dare to open his eyes again. When he looked around, he saw that the hills around the camp were completely covered by snow. Meng Hu stepped into the snow next to the tent, which was not deep enough. The snow was heavy enough!

Amid the creaking sound of snow, Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao came together. Both of them were weak scholars, unlike Meng Hu, who were of extraordinary physique, so they were already wearing thick furs, with fur hats on their heads, and put their hands in their sleeves. Meng Hu wanted to laugh when he saw this. It was a fur dealer from the north.

When he saw Meng Hu, Qi Diaozi said worriedly: "General, Bei Zhi and Brother Wudao just walked around the official road and found that the snow on the road was almost over the knees. The cavalry was fine, but the infantry was miserable. With such thick snow, there was no way to march!"

"There is no way to march?" Meng Hu laughed, "You are wrong with Lao Qi. If it weren't for this heavy snow, the soldiers would have been very hard to march, but with this heavy snow, the soldiers would be spared from the suffering of march and could easily walk from here to the black wind, hahaha..."

"Easy to the black wind vent?"

After hearing Meng Hu's words, Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao looked at each other in surprise and said in surprise, "How is this possible? The snow march is the most difficult, how can it be easy?"

Meng Hu smiled and said, "You will know soon."

From the expressions of Qi Diaozi and Jia Wudao, Meng Hu knew that they didn't know about skiing.

Without snowboards, marching in snow is indeed the most difficult, but with snowboards, it would be different. With snowboards and two ski poles, soldiers of the Western Legion can easily march on the snow. With just a slight click of the ski pole, they can whizz forward and run far away.

As for skis and ski poles, the mountains on both sides of the official road are full of trees, some of which are materials!

Although cross-country skiing requires certain skills, it is nothing for adults with healthy limbs. At most, practice for half a day, and you can almost slide away after falling a few times on the snow.

Meng Hu called Zhang Xingba and asked him to go up the mountain to cut two small trees as thick as a bowl, cut off the tree poles about two meters long in the middle, then cut them into a flat skateboard, then roast them with fire and raise the front edge of the skateboard, then weld four bamboo nails in the middle of the skateboard, two in front and back, and the distance is just right to get into the combat boots.

After flattening the tip of the bamboo nails that were worn on the other side of the skateboard, tie the boots tightly to the skateboard with four bamboo nails and hemp ropes. A simple pair of snowboards was successfully made. Meng Hu put on the boots with the skis tied with the skis again, and gently tapped the snow with a ski pole, and rushed out. After another point, he had already slid more than ten feet away!

Qi Diaozi, Jia Wudao and all the soldiers watching were stunned. Meng Hu had such a board on his feet, but he was able to slide on the snow like flying. This was simply amazing. Some soldiers who had admired Meng Hu very much wanted to kneel on the ground and worship Meng Hu.

When Meng Hu's northern wing army was about to fight Qiu Yutang's Mingyue army, Meng Yan's middle army finally advanced to the front of Hu Xiao Pass. Last night, a sudden blizzard dyed Hu Xiao Pass the inner and outer gates of Hu Xiao Pass, adding a murderous aura on the battlefield.

Amid the creaking sound of snow, Shi Miyuan was approaching Meng Yan's central army tent with his hands together.

As soon as Shi Miyuan arrived outside the central tent of Mengyan, he saw a scout captain coming in a hurry, and stopped and asked in a deep voice: "What's the matter?"

The scout captain hurriedly clasped his fists and bowed, "I have important military information to report to Your Highness."

Shi Miyuan said: "If you have anything, tell me, your highness is resting."

The captain of the scout naturally knew Shi Miyuan and knew that Shi Miyuan was the second prince's teacher and confidant aide. At that moment, he did not doubt that he had just discovered the military information: "Sir, the second scout squadron of the humble position has found very suspicious traces in the valley thirty miles away."

Shi Miyuan asked in a deep voice: "What traces?"

"Stove, a large number of stoves!" The scout captain responded solemnly, "Although the enemy has done the treatment and buried many of them, it was snowing heavily last night. Kebei and the second scout squadron still roughly counted the number of stoves, which can be served at least 100,000 people. Sir, this is a whole army of troops. This enemy army is likely to be hidden in a valley in the north!"

"I already know about this, and I will report to Your Highness to know about it."

Shi Miyuan said this and reminded him, "This matter is of great importance. Don't make any noise. Also, take care of the scouts under your command, and don't let them talk around everywhere, so as not to disturb the morale of the army!"

The captain of the scout looked solemn and replied in a calm voice: "I know what I know."

"Okay." Shi Miyuan waved his hand and said, "You go back first."

Watching the scout captain go away, Shi Miyuan suddenly whispered to himself: "Is there another legion of Mingyue Empire Army cruising outside Hu Xiao Pass? It seems that it is heading for Meng Hu's northern wing side division. However, after solving Meng Hu's northern wing side division division, Qiu Yutang's army should detour Kawahara and cut off our army's retreat, right?"

When Shi Miyuan was talking to himself, Meng Yan's voice came from the central army's tent: "Is Mr. Miyuan outside?"

The cold look on Shi Miyuan's face suddenly dissipated, and instead he was full of flattery smiles. Then he bent over and entered Meng Yan's central army tent and said with a smile: "Your Highness, you are awake, are you resting yesterday?"

Meng Yan murmured and asked, "Who did the sir talk to just now?"

"Oh, just now?"

Shi Miyuan said with a silence, "I was a staff member of the Legion Department just now. He said that the map assigned by the Ministry of War was different from the actual terrain, so I came to report to Your Highness that I had already sent him away."

"Is this?"

Meng Yan frowned and said, "The Ministry of War has indeed dereliction of duty in this matter. The military topographic maps of the states of the Mingyue Empire we used do have great problems. Many places do not match the actual terrain at all. Just say that Tongtian River is wrongly marked, which has caused Xiao Wang's army to go a lot of unjustly detours. Otherwise, we would have arrived at Hu Xiao Pass five days ago!"

"Yes, yes, yes." Shi Miyuan agreed repeatedly, "After the triumphant expedition in the West, His Highness must instruct the Ministry of War to re-draw the map."

Meng Yan waved his hand and said solemnly: "Let's not talk about this for now, let's call all the officers above the division commander to hold a military meeting. Within three days, Xiao Wang must hold a celebration banquet in the city guard hall of Hu Xiao Pass!"

At Heifengkou, Yao Chang's two Yunzhou divisions arrived two days ago, and they are nervously building camps.

Yao Chang was able to become the governor of Yunzhou, which means that he was not a stupid person. He knew Qiu Yutang's plan to hunt tigers, but he had no complaints in his heart, because Yao Chang knew very well that this war was related to the life and death of the Mingyue Empire, and everyone should do their best, and his Yunzhou Legion was no exception.

As for why Yao Chang's two Yunzhou divisions were used as bait, not Qin Lie's two Dingzhou divisions, nor Tuoba Shou's Bingzhou legion, this was completely determined by objective conditions. Yao Chang believed that Qiu Yutang had no selfish intentions and could not have the idea of ​​taking the opportunity to cut off the Yunzhou legion.

However, Yao Chang still urgently hoped that Qin Lie's two Dingzhou divisions could arrive at Heifengkou as soon as possible. If Qin Lie's two cavalry divisions could arrive in time, then there would be four divisions with the addition of the two legions, which would be no less than Meng Hu's western legion. Yao Chang had never thought of defeating Meng Hu. He just wanted to stay in Heifengkou and wait for Qiu Yutang's army to arrive.

However, the blizzard that fell last night still cast a shadow on Yao Chang's heart. The heavy snow blocked the road, and Qin Lie's two cavalry divisions would definitely be greatly affected. It was originally scheduled to be able to reach the Heifengkou in five days, but now it seems that it may not be able to arrive in ten days. As for Qiu Yutang's main army, it will take at least half a month to arrive.
To be continued...