My life is like walking on thin ice

Chapter 479 Ice Sculpture
As an important military town, especially a special city that was built not long ago and is located at the northern gate of the Hetao region, facing Gaoque across the river, the daily life of Bowang City is actually quite strange.

First of all, as a military town, Bowang City has a strong military atmosphere.

On the city walls are large-scale city defense equipment such as crossbows and crossbow racks.

Outside the city wall, in the east, west and south of Bowang City, three military camps are in the shape of a "bowl", lifting Bowang City to the north.

As for inside the city walls, there are not many residential houses or much life.

——Most of the residential areas in the city are houses allocated to the soldiers defending Bowang City, and almost no one lives there.

After all, the defending soldiers were basically in the military camp outside the city, and they would return to "home" every now and then to visit, but no one really regarded Bowang City as their home.

In addition to the residential areas that occupy less than one-third of the city, there is the trading market that occupies nearly half of the city.

A small half are herders and tribesmen from surrounding areas who come to sell cattle, sheep, dairy products, meat and furs.

Most of them are Han merchants from inland areas who want to exchange the various commodities in their hands for grassland specialties that are not worth much in Hetao but are very valuable in the inland areas.

However, it was already the coldest time of the year, and the market in Bowang City was already so deserted that no one was to be seen.

——Even in the only warm area on the grassland: Hetao, each tribe still set up camp in their ancestral land, and survive the winter with difficulty, relying on the layers of dry livestock dung piled up in the depressions, the relatively high temperature and the smaller cold wind in the depressions.

All the tribes in Hetao were hibernating, so the Han merchants from inland had no interest in coming to Bowang City, nor did they have the heart to do business in this cold winter.

Most of those who had time returned from the north to the Han area in the popular sense.

Even those who didn't have time to leave basically rented a house or yard and spent the winter in Bowang City.

How cold is Bowang City?

There is a poem in later generations that says: Snow falls in the eighth month in the Hu sky.

The Hetao region may not be considered "Hu Tian" in the true sense, but it is not far away.

——Less than a hundred miles north of Bowang City, Gaoque on the other side of the river is the dividing line between civilization and barbarism, Han land and "Hu Tian"!

Therefore, in this cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, Bowang City was almost frozen.

All the city gates were closed, with only a small doorway on the side of the main gate opened to allow people to enter and exit as necessary.

Most of the soldiers of the three camps outside the city were unwilling to return to Bowang City or take a look at their assigned "homes", but preferred to stay together for warmth in the barracks.

cold.

It's quite cold.

It was barely bearable, with enough food and clothing, but the weather was still cold, which was almost unheard of in the Han area.

Even in such cold weather, the figure of Cheng Bushi, Marquis of Bowang, appeared outside the camp in the east of the city, at a lookout and observation post on a high ground.

——Bowang City;

Marquis of Bowang.

The name of the city and the bond between it and the title alone made Cheng Buzhi have many inexplicable connections with this northern military town.

But at this moment, Cheng Buzhi's attention was not on Bowang City a few miles away.

Instead, dozens of miles away, in the endless white expanse, the outline of the pre-Qin wall can still be vaguely seen.

"Gao Que..."

As one of the most senior generals in the military today, Cheng Buzhi was of course the first to receive the military order regarding the Battle of Gaoque.

And now, there are only three days left before the final battle is launched.

Feeling the biting coldness coming from the air around him and the sky and earth turning white as far as his sight went, Cheng Buzhi's eyes became solemn, but he did not forget to tighten his cloak instinctively.

——Cheng Buzhi was from Yanmen County. Logically speaking, he was one of the rare senior officers in the Han Dynasty who could withstand certain bitter cold and adapt to the cold more quickly.

But from the way Cheng Buzhi was dressed at this moment, it was not difficult to tell how cold it was at the junction of Hetao and Munan.

From bottom to top, Cheng Buzhi was wearing a pair of deerskin boots specially customized by the Shaofu for frontier generals.

Inside the leather boots, Cheng Buzhi wore a layer of cloth socks and a layer of soft leather socks.

The lower body, from the inner pants, outer trousers, to the leggings that connect the lower body clothes with the leather boots - it accounts for a full 30% of the total.

For the upper body, there is also a layer of inner clothing, a layer of leather armor, and a layer of military robes on the outside.

Another thing is the huge cloak that can hide most of Cheng Buzhi’s body in a place where the wind and snow cannot reach.

As for armor and helmet?

Not to mention that Cheng Buzhi was not on the front line at the moment;

Even if they really went to the battlefield and reached the front line, no one would dare to wear metal armor or helmet in such a snowy and icy place.

Just like at this moment, Cheng Buzhi had only a fur hat on his head that covered his neck and ears, and even half of his face was hidden in the standing collar of the cloak.

If Cheng Buzhi could only understand the meaning of the four words "bitter cold outside the Great Wall" from a theoretical perspective earlier;
During the less than one year in Bowang City, Cheng Buzhi experienced firsthand why the nomadic people outside the Great Wall would spare no effort and fearlessly plunder the Han border soldiers and civilians in all seasons except winter.

——After being there in person, the four words "bitter cold outside the Great Wall" finally took shape in Cheng Buzhi's mind.

In Cheng Buzhi's opinion, with such harsh climatic conditions, even Cheng Buzhi, who had been promoted to a Chinese soldier and a general of the current Han Dynasty, could not think of any better way for the nomadic people to store enough supplies for the winter in the vast grassland with scarce resources except looting.

Of course, understanding why the nomads did this did not mean that Cheng Buzhi accepted or recognized the existence of this situation.

As a Han general - especially one who was born in a border county and rose to prominence in the national defense war in which the Han lost troops and territory, Cheng Buzhi's hatred for the nomadic people can only be washed away by blood.

As for Cheng Buzhi's understanding of the four "bitter cold outside the Great Wall" and his perception of the motives of the nomadic people who went south to plunder, it naturally gave Cheng Buzhi more thoughts.

Since the nomadic people had no choice but to go south to plunder desperately because they could not survive and because of the bitter cold outside the Great Wall;

If the Han Dynasty could solve this problem someday in the future—allowing the nomads to spend the winter safely even without looting—then the threat posed by the nomads to areas within the Great Wall might be effectively controlled...

"Where are Zhidu's troops?"

During the silence, Cheng Buzhi suddenly asked a question, which immediately prompted the personal soldiers beside him to come forward to report.

"General Zhi's troops sneaked out of the East and West camps in batches the day before yesterday and yesterday evening, and gathered on the south bank of the river at noon today."

"According to the pre-war deployment, General Zhi's troops will lie in wait on the southern bank today and rest until dusk." "When night falls, they will move camp again, cross the river and approach Gaoque."

The low voice of the report from the personal soldier only caused Cheng Buzhi to nod slightly.

The look in his eyes as he looked towards Gao Que from afar was suddenly filled with solemnity.

——Zhidu arrived in Bowang City secretly seven days ago.

As for the army participating in this battle, they adopted a more efficient, time-saving and labor-saving rotation and deployment method.

Among the troops sent by Chang'an, except for the elite troops of Yulin, Huben and Beijun who arrived in Bowang City in a low-key manner, most of the rest went to the north to take over the defense of Chaona Sai.

As for the Beidi and Longyou, nearly half of the troops were transferred to Hetao.

The purpose of doing this was, of course, to save marching time to the maximum extent possible, so as to start the battle in advance or even end the Battle of Gaoque before the Huns received intelligence.

The reason is very simple.

If the main force of this battle was the army sent from Chang'an, then tens of thousands of soldiers would have to travel a long distance from Chang'an - first carrying them to Xiaoguan, then passing through Xiaoguan and setting foot in the north;
Then you have to cross the north to meet him, step onto Hetao and then carry it on your back before you can reach the Bowang front line.

During this process, the Xiongnu's hidden spies in Guanzhong, their spies in the north - and even in the Hetao region, these tribes that seemed to have surrendered to the Han Dynasty but were actually ready to "return to the arms of the Chanyu" at any time, would inevitably notice the Han Dynasty's unusual military mobilization.

The longer the time drags on, the greater the probability that the Huns will get the news in advance and strengthen Gaoque's defense in advance, and the smaller the possibility of the Han Dynasty winning this battle.

Again.

In the feudal era - in ancient China where population movement was strictly controlled, it was impossible for a military mobilization of hundreds of thousands of people to occur without any disturbance and without attracting the attention of hostile forces.

Therefore, instead of wasting time and effort pursuing an impossible information blockade, it is better to be more open-minded and create some time difference.

——The Huns will definitely receive news of the Han Dynasty’s military mobilization.

However, intelligence related to military and strategic matters is often time-sensitive.

Just like in this battle, the Han family prepared secretly and fought without declaration, and was about to "suddenly" start the Battle of Gaoque.

During this process, whether it was the Xiongnu garrison in Gaoque or the Right Wise King Yizhixie in Munan, they received intelligence before, during and after the war, and the significance of the intelligence was completely different.

The worst case scenario, of course, is that Gao Que received the news before the war and took precautions in advance.

If this situation really happens, the best option for the Han Dynasty in this battle is to sound the retreat and overturn all military plans for the Battle of Gaoque before the battle begins.

A slightly better situation was that the Right Wise King Yizhixie received the news in advance, but was unable to inform Gaoque in time, so he could only lead reinforcements to Gaoque.

In this case, the Han Dynasty will still have a window of opportunity to capture Gaoque.

However, if the Han army still has no hope of capturing Gaoque until the arrival of reinforcements from King Youxian's army, then there would be no need to continue the battle.

A better situation, which is also the one with the highest probability of occurrence and the one that the Han Dynasty most hopes to achieve, is that Youxian Wang Ting and Gaoque both learn of this military intelligence during the battle.

Gao Que has no doubts - as soon as the Han side starts fighting, they will feel it.

As for Yizhixie, if he only received the intelligence after the battle broke out, even if he immediately assembled a large army, it would be difficult for him to come back to support Gaoque in time.

For this battle, the Emperor of Chang'an has already given a clear strategic plan!
Only after Gaoque is captured within ten days can the next plan be carried out and heavy troops be stationed in Gaoque.

The attack on Gaoque would take more than twenty days, so the plan would change from garrisoning in Gaoque to actively attacking from Gaoque and harassing Munan, so as to buy enough time for the large troops in the rear to pour out from the Han area.

If Gaoque has not been captured by the 30th day after the battle begins, the battle will be terminated.

The 10th, 20th and 30th, the three red lines are clearly drawn there, which makes the overall strategic thinking of the Han army in this battle clear to the greatest extent.

——Only when we can seize Gaoque before the Xiongnu can react can the Han Dynasty be said to have truly mastered Gaoque!
If Gaoque was captured before the Xiongnu reinforcements arrived, the Han would need to increase the force invested in this battle and more troops would need to arrive at Gaoque.

In this situation, the troops participating in the Battle of Gaoque needed to "bluff" and take the initiative to attack and keep the Huns outside Gaoque to prevent Gaoque from changing hands again.

The worst case scenario, of course, is that Gaoque is still not captured until the Huns' reinforcements arrive.

If this is true, then the Han Dynasty will have almost no chance of winning this battle. They can only terminate the battle and bear the consequences of not being able to win or not being able to win quickly.

To put it simply, it was a military misjudgment, low military morale, and a strategic mistake.

To put it in a broader sense, it means losing many soldiers and generals, and even going to extreme lengths to gain nothing...

"Send a message to the Bowang Third Battalion."

"At noon tomorrow, all the troops defending Bowang will gather in the southwest of Bowang for winter training."

Looking at the vague outline of Gaoque, Cheng Buzhi spoke in a deep voice, and immediately ordered the personal soldier to take orders and leave.

After the personal soldier left, the other guards around Cheng Buzhi looked at each other, and finally shook their heads with a bitter smile.

——Cheng Buzhi has always been famous for his strict military discipline.

Therefore, as early as when Bowang City was just built and Cheng Bushi had just taken office as the governor of Shuofang, there were constant rumors that Cheng Bushi liked to conduct field training at every turn.

He particularly likes to judge the limits of his troops through training and exercises in winter!
Earlier, the guards had been somewhat shaken by the complaints of the soldiers below them, and had even thought about "should we persuade the general not to treat the soldiers so harshly?"

Until this moment, when they saw Cheng Buzhi calmly saying that the Bowang Third Battalion would start this year's 'winter training' tomorrow at noon - two days before the Battle of Gaoque, the guards realized belatedly: Cheng Buzhi might have planned and laid out this day for a long time.

What will happen next is predictable.

——The soldiers walked out of the barracks full of complaints and went to the hilly area in the southwest corner of Bowang City for "winter training".

As a result, the first project of the winter training was to sneak north, cross the river and approach Gaoque, simulating a sneak attack on Gaoque!

Then, the simulation turned into actual combat...

"General, you are truly a god..."

The guards secretly sighed, and couldn't help but feel that Cheng Buzhi's figure, which was not very tall and mighty, was inexplicably majestic.

At the top of the hill, Cheng Buzhi just stopped and looked into the distance at the Gaoque, like an ice sculpture.

"Zhidu, ah, Zhidu..."

"Don't let your Majesty down..."

(End of this chapter)