Traveling through the early Tang Dynasty starts with hanging

Chapter 962
The thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month.

On the east side of the Rushui River, there are continuous north-south mountains, and there is almost no life in the undulating mountains. In the abandoned village, Li Shan forced a smile, "It's much better than yesterday."

Duan Decao nodded silently. Compared with yesterday's overwhelming snowstorm, today is indeed much stronger. He set off early in the morning, had enough food and drink, and arrived at this foothold in more than an hour. The marching speed was more than twice as fast as yesterday.

"Are there any complaints in the army?" Li Shan asked in a low voice.

"Not much." Duan Decao said succinctly. Last night, he managed to find a village where he could warm up by the fire, eat some hot food, soak his feet, sleep wrapped in a bedding at night, and continue marching today. Naturally, some people are dissatisfied.

At this time, the effect of Li Shan's selection of soldiers was reflected. Most of the [-] Yanzhou soldiers selected by Duan Decao escaped from death.

Wang Junhao muttered: "According to the plan, we should be able to reach Xiaoguan by now."

"Then let Feng Duan live another day... no, half a day." Li Shan smiled. Feng Duan, the commander of the Liang army stationed at Xiaoguan, is a confidant general of Liang Shidu. Order and Minister of the Ministry of War.

Such a character, even if he surrendered, Li Shanna would never agree.

Hearing Li Shan's words, Duan Decao nodded vigorously. He has been in the battlefield for a long time, so he can naturally hear the meaning behind Li Shan's words... Even if it is night, even if there is a heavy snowstorm, he will definitely reach Xiaoguan today.

The reason is very simple, there is no other foothold, and in the next journey, there will be no supplies other than the ones you carry... If you don't make it to Xiaoguan, the eight hundred sharp men will be swallowed by heavy snow.

Wang Junhao also understood, and added: "Although no one's life was hurt, and we have found an excuse, it's hard to say whether the village will file a complaint, and we can't delay."

Everyone was silent, Liu Hei'er glanced at Zhang Zhongjian, admiring her in her heart, she was usually taciturn, but she lied endlessly and spoke so naturally, it's really not something ordinary people can do.

Before leaving today, Liu Heier witnessed Zhang Zhongjian asking the villagers where this location is in Yuanzhou and where the nearest town is... Then he explained that he was Tang Jun who lost his way due to the snowstorm.

Thinking of this, Liu Hei'er glanced at Li Shan, thinking that he had heard in Liang Jun that the King of Handan was easy to kill, but a few days ago the soldiers said that King Huairen of Handan, it seems to be true today... If he was himself, he must have ordered the slaughter Do your best to prevent the news from leaking, and killing can also boost morale.

After resting for an hour, they set off again. When they set off on the 28th, there were 820 people in the army. At this time, there were only 770 six people left. Under the guidance of the scouts, the soldiers walked slowly and firmly to the northwest along the mountain road. Go around the mountain in front of you, cross the Rushui River from the north, march for another forty miles, cross the Hulu River, and then...

The supplies last night obviously provided the soldiers with a lot of energy, but as time passed, numbness and machinery came again. The body was extremely tired, but there was vigorous emotion in the chest. The strong contrast made the whole army stand silently. The posture is like a beast that has been waiting for a long time in the snow, waiting for its prey.

The biting northwest wind blew the white snow and stirred up bursts of white mist. On this piece of land covered in white for hundreds of miles, a quiet and desolate atmosphere enveloped everything.A traveler who has no past, will not see any human beings along the way, and even the beasts will not be seen...

But there were no animals, but there were birds. There were strange cries in the air. Li Shan looked up involuntarily, and saw vultures flying back and forth in the air. Then he realized that the snow had stopped.

From the vulture's perspective, black spots the size of ants are slowly and firmly moving towards the northwest in the vast snowfields and winding valleys. Occasionally, one or two black spots will be pulled down and then stay There, never move again.

It was a passive soldier. Li Shangang didn't know it at first, and he occasionally glanced back when he turned a corner, and he didn't want to look back after that.

Liu Heier suddenly took off the big bow, and the long feathered arrow flashed in the air, shooting down the buzzing vulture, but such a sharp shot was not praised by everyone, because everyone was numb, It is also because other people are unwilling to focus on this kind of thing and continue to walk on this road that seems to never end.

The reason why he persisted was that, on the one hand, there was no other way to choose, and on the other hand, it was because Li Shan insisted on walking ahead... This is also the main reason why Li Shan wanted to lead the army in person, although the difficulty of marching was far greater than his estimate .

But the road always has an end. Li Shan looked at the not-so-wide river in front of him, and thought that he would be qualified to recite the poem when he told about this experience in the future. No trace of people", but unfortunately there is nothing on the river, which does not meet the last two sentences of "a man in a lonely boat and a hat, fishing alone in the cold river and snow".

As Zhang Zhongjian, Wang Junhao, Duan Decao and other generals walked back and forth, shouting loudly, the atmosphere of the whole army gradually became alive, because this is the Hulu River, and this river is on the edge of Xiaoguan.

This also means that Xiaoguan is not far away.

Li Shan looked up at the sky, a little gloomy, took out the map from his arms, and thought silently, "You time?"

"Almost." Huangfu Zhong kept it in his heart, "About three quarters of the next year."

That was around six o'clock. Li Shan looked at the sky again, and he also knew that it would not be dusk until after seven o'clock, and it would not be until eight o'clock at night.

At this time, Huangfu Zhong pointed to the bridge not far away, "Fan Shishi is back, no problem!"

"This place is only [-] miles away from Xiao Pass, and Liang Jun didn't send troops to guard it?" Qu Silang was a little surprised.

"In March last year, Yuanzhou built a new bridge on the upper reaches of the Hulu River. It was more than ten miles away from here, and the bridge was abandoned." Huangfuzhong explained: "The last time I explored the road, I remembered this and I came here to investigate. As expected, there is no garrison. .”

After a pause, Huangfu Zhong pointed downstream, "There are four or five villages on the east side of the river. They are hidden from the marching traces, so they have to detour."

This is his own cleverness... Li Shan thought in his heart, if he knew that the storm was coming, there was no need to take a detour, maybe he could get some more supplies.

Of course, it’s meaningless to think about it now, Li Shan exhaled lightly, and a white mist appeared in front of him, "Let’s start, all under the command of Zhang Sanlang."

Zhang Zhongjian who just came over said in a low voice: "Fan Shiyi and Huangfu Zhong led the scouts forward, Wang Junhao, Liu Rengui, Duan Decao, and Hou Hongtao led two hundred soldiers to follow, a certain leader led three hundred soldiers in the middle, Qu Silang and Liu Heier led the remaining soldiers Protect Your Highness and Queen."

Li Shan didn't say a word, fighting to the death is not his strong point, the significance of leading the army himself is only in the difficult march, and now he insists on being a vanguard, but it will make his subordinates feel tied.

The whole army was divided into three parts, connected front to back, slowly and carefully passed the broken bridge, and went straight to the north.

(End of this chapter)