On the second day of February, the dragon raises its head.
Although the snow has stopped, the wind has not stopped. It is still roaring in the wilderness, blowing up the snow on the ground and throwing it into the faces of many soldiers on the road, making their footsteps slow down again. slow.
It has been half a month since they left Tokyo, but now Sun Tu and his team have just passed the Damingfu border, and are still hundreds of miles away from the northern front line. In the past half month, this team could only travel 20 to 30 miles a day. In addition, due to various entertainment delays along the way, they only traveled a total of more than 300 miles. This marching speed really set a new record. .
If they march in a hurry according to Sun Tu's wishes, even if the road is blocked by heavy snow and other external reasons, they will be able to reach the vicinity of Yanmen Pass in half a month, and they will be able to reach the front line in at least around 20 days. But judging from the current itinerary, I'm afraid I won't be able to reach the place at all in a month and a half. By then, the battle at Baigou River may have already decided the winner.
The reason why the pace is so slowed down is the external reason. The key is just that there is an extra line of Gao Qiu in the middle of the team. I don’t know if he was doing it to show off or for other purposes. Anyway, his team refused to speed up the march at all costs. The four-wheel carriage he was riding in was not as nimble and fast as a single person riding alone in the snow. , coupled with the socializing along the way after revealing his identity, it turned the march to the north into an outing.
What made Sun Tu frown even more was that when he went over to urge him, Gao Qiu replied confidently: "If you, Marquis of Yue, are eager to rush to the front line, you can go ahead and I will come later."
It was obvious that the other party was planning to separate from Sun Tu and the others. This was not only to prevent Sun Tu from harming them on the road, but also a way for Gao Qiu to escape the upcoming war. Although he actually arrived at the front line in his capacity, even if the Song army was defeated, he would be safe, but Gao Qiu was still wary and refused to take risks. For this reason, he even stayed in Daming Mansion for three days, attending banquets and socializing everywhere, and putting on all the airs.
If Sun Tu hadn't finally turned against him and forced him to set off, I'm afraid they would still be lingering in Daming Mansion to this day.
The only good news is that after leaving Daming Mansion, there will be no decent cities for Gao Qiu to stay. But the road will become more and more difficult in the future, especially now that the road is clogged with heavy snow and even the location of the official road is somewhat unclear, it will be even more difficult to travel quickly.
At this time, thousands of people and horses were trampling on the vast snowfield, and all that could be heard was the whistling wind and the crunching of feet on the snow. At a glance, there was nothing but white. The entire team was on their way. It’s quite a training to say the least. After staying in such a monotonous and unchanged environment for a few days, everyone will feel more and more tired, and even the speed will be slowed down again.
A team of scouts who were exploring the road ahead had already rushed back. When they saw Sun Tu, they reported: "General, I have seen this from my humble position. There are no villages or towns twenty miles away. It seems that tonight we can only Sleeping in the wild."
Sun Tu nodded, then raised his eyes to look at the darkening sky, and sighed: "There is nothing we can do about this. Send the order, and walk forward for half an hour to find a leeward place to set up camp."
Out
After the border of Gyeonggi Province, the prosperous scene left to people by the Great Song Dynasty has taken a turn for the worse. Deserted villages and shops are everywhere, and it is a state of depression. Except for those big cities, you are lucky to have a place to stay in Zhendian. Especially in the past year, natural disasters have occurred frequently, causing many people in the north to flee their hometowns, making the roads along the road even more deserted and less popular.
And when we left the Daming Prefecture in Beijing and got closer and closer to the border between Liao and Song Dynasties, the road became more and more desolate. We hadn't seen any decent villages or towns in the past two days. This made the thousands of Forbidden Army soldiers who had been staying in Tokyo obviously feel uncomfortable. Even though the Huben Army officers and soldiers had left Beijing to fight the chaos before, they had not gone so far and had little idea of the world outside the capital.
Sun Tu had known that this would be a scene. He had also seen more desolate scenes than this one, so he seemed extra calm and commanded well. He arranged all the relevant orders in a few sentences. But just as the team continued to move forward, a horseman came up from behind. It was a confidant of Gao Qiu. He said loudly: "Marquis of Yue, the captain has an order. We have been traveling all day." We are already exhausted, so let’s camp here and rest.”
"It's not dark yet, why are you in a hurry to take a rest?" Sun Tu frowned again. Today, he realizes more and more that he made a mistake by insisting on taking Gao Qiu out of the capital. This guy and the 300 people who protect him are really a big burden.
The confidant smiled and said: "Marquis Yue, you are still in your prime, so it's no problem for you to be strong. But the Taiwei is already old, and you can't bear the fatigue of traveling around. You don't want the Taiwei to get sick because of this, right?" "
Sun Tu glanced back, his eyes a little cold. You must know that Gao Qiu has been sitting in his luxurious carriage that was pulled by four horses. It was not only warm as spring, but also wide enough for him to stand up without bumping his head. A guy who was riding comfortably in a car actually rode on horseback and walked with me. People who were rushing against the wind said it was hard, but he had such shame.
But the hundreds of people behind the team no longer waited for Sun Tu's orders and directly found a place to set up camp. Obviously they were determined to spend the night here. As for what Sun Tu and Huben Jun thought, it had nothing to do with them.
In fact, along the way, the gap between the two sides has become wider and wider, almost becoming a fire and water situation. The entire team is clearly separated when they set up camp. So even if Sun Tu continued to lead people forward, they would not follow him. After all, Sun Tu was the only one who was in a hurry to go to the front line, and he, Captain Gao, had a lot of time to lose.
Seeing this, Sun Tu could only sigh. After scanning the surrounding environment, he pointed to a small high slope not far away: "Let's set up camp there as well. Get up early tomorrow and go on the road again, and save today's share." Fill."
The officers and soldiers of the Huben Army responded one after another and soon set up camp two miles away from Gao Qiu's camp. Then some people set up tents and barracks, while others went around to pick up dead branches and other materials for use when the time came. Build a bonfire. Continuous training has tempered this previously weak imperial army.
As the general, Sun Tu certainly didn't have to worry about these trivial matters. He took the opportunity to open the sheepskin map and check the location of his home. From this point of view, my home is now nearly eighty miles north of Daming Mansion, and it seems that it is not far from the border. Within two days,
We can cross the Liao-Song border, and then head north for ten days, and we should be able to reach the front line.
Of course, this means that everything goes well and the team can move forward at the speed they expected. But the team behind them is bound to cause trouble again, and the speed will be slowed down a lot. This made Sun Tu feel a hint of murderous intent in his eyes. He pulled Gao Qiuqiang out not because he really wanted him to be a burden, but because he wanted to settle the grudges together.
Originally, he planned to do this after leaving the Song Dynasty, but now Sun Tu could no longer hold back. Judging from the current environment, there shouldn't be much of a problem even if we start here. It's just that the surrounding area has to be locked to prevent anyone from escaping!
Thinking of this, Sun Tu suddenly turned around and glanced at the camp where Gao Qiu was not far away. Did he choose to take action tonight
At this moment, a soldier sent outside to collect firewood ran back with a solemn expression. When he saw Sun Tu, he reported: "General, I found three sets of footprints on the hill two miles away. It's really strange..."
"Huh?" When Sun Tu heard this, he quickly gathered his thoughts and said, "Come on, take me to have a look. Don't mistake the footprints left by wild beasts for human footprints." Speaking of which, they haven't seen any other people in the past few days. In such a harsh climate and in the wilderness, how could someone suddenly appear next to everyone
But this statement was quickly rejected by Sun Tu. Sure enough, there were three lines of shallow footprints on the top of the hill in the southwest. If soldiers hadn't come here to look for firewood, and the sky was still a little bright now, I'm afraid this trace would have been covered up or ignored.
This made Sun Tu's face become quite solemn: "It seems that someone nearby has been staring at us, but who is it?"
"It's not some bandit who dominates the mountain, right?" One of his subordinates raised an opinion, but Sun Tu shook his head and said, "This place is so desolate. There are no pedestrians except us. How can any bandits stay here? What's more? , many of our officers and soldiers are crossing the border. If the bandits find out that they have been hiding far away, how can they take the risk to follow and observe? They must have other purposes!"
As he spoke, Sun Tu half-crouched on the hill according to the traces in front of him, and then carefully observed the road below. Slowly, the corners of his mouth turned up: "The angle here is just right to include Gao Qiu and his camp. In my eyes, it seems that our camp is too far away from here, so it is difficult to see all the leopards. It seems that they are coming towards Gao Qiu!"
"Ah?" Everyone was a little confused: "What's the point of this?"
"It's hard to say the specific reason, but since they are not coming for us, we can just watch. Just guard our own camp. As for Gao Qiu, it depends on their fate." Sun Tu immediately gave Having made a decision, he said with a smile. Gao Qiu has done all kinds of bad things. In the past, it was just as if no one else had a chance to take revenge in Tokyo. Now in this wilderness, it is reasonable for someone with a hatred as deep as the sea to risk a sneak attack. I just don’t know if these guys have this ability anymore.
It would be even better for Sun Tu if he could really get rid of Gao Qiu with the help of others.
Everything depends on what happens tonight...