The Zhou army had entered the Wushan area. Between the green mountains, the river was turbulent, and the waves roared between the mountains and the water. A high-pitched and hoarse low voice came from the stone wall by the river: Hi! Suddenly everyone shouted in unison: Hi Yo Yo! Others shouted rhythmically: Ho Hi!
The shouts of the boatmen were vigorous and powerful, drowning out the sound of the surging waves, and exuding a strong vitality against the current. Guo Shao stood at the bow and was shocked for a moment. He looked towards the river and saw a group of naked men leaning over, holding onto the stone wall, and struggling forward again and again amidst the shouts. At this time, the boatman started to shout again: "Tug!" The men immediately shouted in unison: "Tug, tug, tug!"
There was also a boatman who was familiar with the local water conditions in front of the ship. He and the warship leader and helmsman adjusted the direction of the ship to avoid the ship running aground. Guo Shao felt that the fate of the warship was linked to the boatmen, and the magnificent calls were like shouts on the battlefield.
Previously, a general advised him to leave the ship and go by land, because if it hit a reef, the ship would be destroyed. However, Guo Shao refused, saying that he wanted to be in the same boat with the soldiers for a reason, of course, he could swim.
This section of dangerous water was not far, and Guo Shao's flagship soon passed the most urgent section. Ordinary ships might still need to be pulled by trackers, but Zhou's Yangtze River warships did not need to be pulled, because they had water wheels and multiple oars, and the sails were also better; military warships were things that did not count the cost.
The boat trackers on the shore put away the tow ropes, sang cheerfully, and turned back to the east; there were more boats to pass through the dangerous waters, and of course there were more boat trackers behind them. When Guo Shao listened carefully, most of the songs had no lyrics. Occasionally there were one or two words, but they seemed to be local dialect words, which he did not understand. Perhaps the original music of our ancient ancestors was such a sound, a cry from the heart.
Come, bring their leader here, I will go ashore to meet him. Guo Shao turned around and said to his general.
Guo Shao took a small boat to the shore and saw the army carriages and horses on the road along the river like a long dragon, and the tiger flags of the Tiger Guards fluttering in the towering mountains, which was extremely spectacular. Occasionally, there were cliffs and plank roads. People in the past had hand-carved caves on the stone walls, then inserted wood into the caves, and built plank roads on top; it seemed that no matter how dangerous nature was, it could not stop people from moving forward.
A group of naked people wearing ragged rags hunched their backs and looked at Guo Shao. They only used their eyes to express courtesy without any extra words. Finally, a leader came up and bowed and said: General.
Guo Shao turned around and took out a bag of copper coins, handed it to him and said: Those who have worked together with us and helped the Great Zhou army are our allies.
The head of the boat said happily: "Thank you for the reward, General." The trackers, who had been silent before, relaxed when they heard the sound of copper coins in the bag, and began to talk in low voices.
At this time, Guo Shao found that Jingniang was lying on her back, with a helpless look on her face. Guo Shao asked the head of the group: Why don't you wear clothes
We can't afford to wear them. The head of the brothel deliberately spoke slowly, and although the accent was different, the pronunciation was still understandable. Our clothes would be easily worn out, and wearing wet clothes would make us sick.
Guo Shao looked sympathetic, sighed, and asked: How are the people here doing
The leader of the call said: This is a poor and remote area, and we can't grow much in the fields. The boatmen who go down to the river are taking our jobs. It's so hard.
Guo Shao then said: Go back and tell the prestigious village elders in the mountains, and ask the nearby leaders and clan leaders to bring people to Wushan County, saying that the Great Zhou wants to provide relief to the suffering people.
"Okay, okay." The head of the trading hall looked at Guo Shao and nodded quickly.
Guo Shao waved his hand to let the boatmen go and got back on the boat. At this time, the general could not help but say: Although those people are suffering, the lord has sympathy, but there is no need to provide relief to them now. It is not easy to transport military rations from the rear, and it is a pity to give them to the mountain people.
Guo Shao said: We can't calculate the cost in this way. If the Zhou army is not moral and has a bad reputation, how can we sail now? The navy is not familiar with the dangerous water conditions. If they don't crash all the boats, the boatmen will not say that they deliberately destroy our boats, and they will flee into the mountains without our guides to pull the boats. It will be difficult for the army to take this route. He patted the shoulders of his generals. Although those people are laborers, they are also human beings. They can tell who is good and who is bad. Let's be nice to them. The people know it in their hearts.
Zuo You on the side praised: My lord, you have a bird's-eye view. He who wins the hearts of the people will win the world.
As he was talking, he heard a wow sound, and a soldier not far away suddenly vomited. Guo Shao turned his head and saw that the soldier's face was pale, so he said to Zuo You: Bring some doctors from Jiangling Prefecture and ask them to make some soup to prevent the disease.
Yes, I will go and urge them immediately, Zuo You said.
The boat was swaying on the river, carrying some soldiers of the Tiger Guards, most of whom were from the north and might not be used to sailing on the river. When Cao Cao attacked Sun Wu, he used iron chains to connect the boats because the northerners were not used to sailing, so they were attacked by fire.
That afternoon, Guo Shao suddenly received a report that the rear army had been attacked the night before and that much of their food and supplies had been burned.
The civil and military officers on the warship were in an uproar, and everyone asked: There is only one road, and there are mountains all around, how could the rear army be attacked? But the young general who came to report did not know either, and only said that it was the Shu army, with armor and flags, not bandits.
Besides, why would the bandits provoke the army for no reason
Guo Shao ignored their discussion, took out a report from a package, read it again, and then handed it to Wang Pu. He continued to take out the map to look at it.
Wang Pudao: They might be people from this place, Wushan Military Camp.
A few days ago, Dong Zunhui's vanguard unit sent a report that they had their first clash with the Shu army. The Shu army had set up a military camp on a mountain east of Wushan County. Due to the difficult terrain, Dong Zunhui sent people to attack several times but failed. So he reported that in order not to block the road ahead and delay the journey, he sent people to block the mountain pass and continued to advance without attacking the military camp.
According to Dong Zunhui's description, the Shu army camp was on the mountain and did not block the road, so the failure to capture it would not affect the army's continued advance. However, if the Shu army was left there, it would harass Guo Shao from nowhere.
The next day, Guo Shao arrived in front of the Shu army camp by boat, and then led his men to disembark and go ashore to see that the place was indeed a trouble to keep, as if there was a nail in the middle of the road, which might come down at any time to harass the army's food supply and baggage.
It's on the mountain over there. The commander who stayed at the mountain pass pointed and said.
When Guo Shao squinted his eyes, he could vaguely see some flags on the rocks, but he couldn't see the details clearly because he was too far away. The cliffs of the mountains to the north stood like a row of barriers along the Yangtze River. The scenery was beautiful and spectacular, but Guo Shao didn't like being in such a place. The view was not wide and was blocked by the mountains, which always made him feel a little depressed.
I walked closer to take a look.
Zuo You advised: This place is dangerous, my lord, there is no need to take the risk yourself, just send someone to take a look and come back to report.
Guo Shao ignored him and turned around and said: Bring the armor here and put it on.
Two guards brought his things, and Guo Shao took off his outer clothes, wearing a breathable sesame underwear. With the help of the guards, he immediately changed into military uniform. First, he put on the chain mail skirt armor, mainly to protect the movable parts, and then put on the plate armor; after a while, Guo Shao had gained more than 50 kilograms because of wearing two layers of armor. He took the helmet and put it on, with leather padding inside and chain mail ear protection on both sides; there was a bulging bag on the top of the semicircular helmet, which was not a very good-looking design, but because people at that time had longer hair and usually wore a bun, so there had to be a space to accommodate the bun to be comfortable.
The soldiers also put on their armor and followed Guo Shao along the mountain pass, trudging up the hillside from the winding road in the bushes. After walking for a while, they saw some Zhou soldiers stationed behind the fence fortifications. There was a very steep stone mountain ahead, with a winding road on the stone mountain, and the Shu soldiers stationed on the mountain could already be seen.
One of Cao's generals cursed from behind, "What's the point of the Shu people setting up a military camp in such a remote place?"
Guo Shao looked up at the top of the mountain, but he didn't know what was behind the mountain. Anyway, it must be a mountainous area with high mountains and steep ridges. There should be a road behind the mountain, which could be used to harass the marching road. Otherwise, it would be meaningless for the Shu army to build a military camp here.
Call the guide. Guo Shao turned around and shouted. After shouting, he observed the terrain ahead. As far as he could see, it was almost entirely cliffs with no roads to pass through. Only in front of the military camp was there a road carved out of the rocks.
After a while, a local came up and said that he had never been to the back of the mountain and thought it was probably an uninhabited place.
At this moment, a soldier suddenly came up from behind, knelt on one knee and said: The rear army sent people to bring prisoners up, saying that they captured several people while chasing the Shu army last night.
Bring it here. Guo Shao said.
Soon, three men with their armors stripped off and their military uniforms tied behind their backs were brought up. There were bruises and blood on their faces, and it looked like the Zhou army soldiers had suffered a lot after capturing them.
The generals holding the prisoners shouted: "Tell me whatever you are asked. If you dare to be stubborn, tie me up with stones and throw me into the river."
The prisoners hung their heads, dejected.
Guo Shao pointed to the mountain and asked: How many people are there in the military camp
The Shu army captives in front said: "More than 1,200. Originally there were only more than 100 people, and Wang Jianjun recently reinforced more than 1,000 people and brought a large amount of food to ask us to defend for half a year."
Wang Jianjun, it was Wang Zhaoyuan who was dismissed, Zuo You sighed. The generals were discussing that they wanted to hold on for another half a year, but he was thinking very well.
The captive said: "To be honest with you, the terrain on the mountain is dangerous and it is impossible to attack from any direction." The military supervisor Wang sent someone to say that he had set up a copper wall and iron fortress to the east of Kuizhou, and the Zhou army would not be able to reach Kuizhou for three to five years; but because we are the front fortress with no reinforcements, we only need to defend for half a year and constantly harass the food supply route to tire out the Zhou army.