The late spring flowers were floating in the air, and the brown ground was dotted with spots. Guo Shao stood at the gate of the county government office and glanced at the women next to him. Jing Niang was wearing leather armor and carrying a sword, and behind her stood a dark and strong woman carrying a large bundle.
Wushan White Granny was wearing a cloth robe, her hair was all white and wrapped in cloth, and she was also carrying a bundle. Guo Shao's eyes stayed on the young girl Lu Lan, whose chest was bulging and her waist and hips showed that she was a young girl; the girl's figure was very different, and it could be seen at a glance.
Aren’t you going to set off? Marshal Guo, why are you staring at me? Lu Lan muttered.
Guo Shao advised: "It is very difficult to march and deploy troops, and it is not convenient for women. So, let your third aunt go with us to Chengdu to find someone; I will send someone to take you to Tokyo. Do you still not trust me for this matter
Lu Lan whispered: I am worried that Third Aunt will have no one to take care of her on the road. Third Aunt has never traveled far, General Guo, so I will follow her to Kuizhou to see if she is safe on the road, and then go to Tokyo.
Guo Shaoyi thought that Wushan County was only about a hundred miles away from Kuizhou, and he could send her away in a few days, so he said: This is a gentleman's words.
It's hard to catch up with him, Lu Lan said cheerfully.
Guo Shao nodded and looked up at the sky: I just hope it won’t rain for three or four days.
Two days later, it rained.
In the lobby of the Kuizhou Central Army Headquarters, Gao Yanchou, the governor of Ningjiang, stood at the gate and looked at the drizzling rain outside, saying: "It's raining well!"
Wang Zhaoyuan, the military supervisor of the Eastern Army, who was reading the files in the official seat, asked casually: What's good about it
It was raining, so how could Zhou's army take the mountain road to Kuizhou? Gao Yanchou said, at this time of year, if it rains lightly for a month or half a month, just cloudy and rainy, without too much rain, Kuizhou can be defended for a while longer.
Wang Zhaoyuan asked: What mountain road? Are the Zhou army going to climb over the mountains in Qutang Gorge
Gao Yanchou said: "We should go over the north side of the Chijia Mountain and Qumen North Mountain, and go south along the Caotang River Valley; then we will cross the Longxi River and approach the city of Kuizhou. Why did the Zhou army go through Qumen
Wang Zhaoyuan, who was originally calm, glared and stood up in shock: Why didn't you tell me earlier
General Wang is in charge of the military power in the east. Could it be that he hasn't even figured out the terrain and roads around Kuizhou? Gao Yanchou was surprised and said, "I thought you knew it clearly, so I didn't say much."
Wang Zhaoyuan's staff chimed in: "Vice Envoy Wang has only been in Kuizhou for a short time. He has to deploy defenses and make general plans. How can he know every mountain road so well?" General Gao has been the governor of Kuizhou for a long time. How could he only talk about such an important matter now
Gao Yanchou frowned and had no way to defend himself:
Wang Zhaoyuan was shocked for a moment, but soon calmed down.
Gao Yanchou said: As long as you are determined to go to a place, you can definitely send a large army. The cliffs on the Shu Road can also be built to make a road, not to mention that it is just a mountain road. We burned the plank road in Qumen. If the Zhou army does not want to wait for the plank road to be slowly repaired, they should find another way to come. But Deputy Envoy Wang, please rest assured. It is raining now, and the mountain road is full of mud. It is really impossible to send a large army. The Zhou army will not be able to come for a while.
The rain will eventually stop. Wang Zhaoyuan said angrily, we can't stop the Zhou army. They will be at the gates sooner or later.
Gao Yanchou was also confused: Deputy Envoy Wang thought that the Zhou army would not approach the city.
Wang Zhaoyuan said: I burned the plank road, and our navy is upstream. Zhou's army can't move forward by land and water, how can they get here? Who knows there is another crooked way? He pointed his finger at Gao Yanchou's nose and trembled. You, General Gao Jie, even if you have a prejudice against Wang, you can't keep it secret in military affairs and delay important things. What are your intentions
Gao Yanchou said: "What can I do? If Kuizhou cannot be defended, will Gao have any benefit? But our troops cannot win, what can we do? Now we can only close the city gates and defend the city. We can only hold on for one day. Sooner or later, the Zhou army will come and capture Kuizhou. Unless this rain really falls for one or two months, the Zhou army may not be able to bear it and retreat."
Haha Wang Zhaoyuan suddenly raised his head and laughed, "How ridiculous! There are still generals like you in this world. You are sure you will lose before the battle even starts. Then why are we fighting?"
Yes, why are we still fighting? Gao Yanchou was stunned, but you and I are deeply in the emperor's favor, and we can only fight to the death here. Even if we lose, we will not be ashamed of His Majesty and the people of Shu. That's why I said, it's better to hold on for a day and delay the time.
Wang Zhaoyuan said angrily: "Just wait and see how I defeat the Zhou army. I will report you when I return to the court another day."
The rain at this time was indeed a disaster for the Zhou army. Nearly 20,000 troops were trapped in the valley of Caotang River. This was a small river, the valley was not deep or flat, and both sides were low but rugged mountains, and the road was relatively narrow. The 20,000 troops were estimated to have stretched 15 miles, and could not move halfway, so they stopped marching and set up tents to camp.
Guo Shao held a wooden stick and tried to trudge through the rain for a while. His clothes were all wet, and the rain flowed from the edge of his helmet to his face. He reached out and wiped it off, thinking: I don't think I have done anything against the will of heaven, but God, why did it rain now instead of earlier or later
"My lord, please go back. The troops and vehicles cannot move on this road," the accompanying general advised.
Guo Shao looked up and saw endless tents along the river, with no end in sight, lying on the road like a long dead snake. He slipped with every step, and had to use a wooden stick to support himself before he could walk back carefully and with difficulty.
The environment here looks beautiful, but it is not such a comfortable place. Going out when it rains is simply torture. In ancient times, there was no clean cement road. The road was full of mud. After walking for a while, half of your body was covered with mud and puddles. Fortunately, you would get dirty at most. The key is that if you are not careful, you will fall. The rain is not heavy. There is a layer of thin mud on the hard soil below, and the road is also bumpy. Anyway, Guo Shao himself had a very difficult time walking, and those soldiers who pushed the vehicles and carried heavy loads must have suffered even more.
The sky was gray and Guo Shao was in a depressed mood when he returned to the central army tent.
Everyone was hiding in the tent, warming themselves by the fire and avoiding the rain. The ground inside was all muddy. People cut some branches and put them on the muddy ground, cut grass and put another layer on it, and then spread tung oil cloth blankets and quilts on top, which became the bed. Rainwater was still flowing between the branches under the bed.
The fire was not allowed to burn too strong, so a pot was placed on top to act as a flame, otherwise the tent would catch fire. Guo Shao took off his wet clothes and changed into dirty but dry clothes, while Lu Chengyong helped to hang branches by the stove to warm them.
The people in the tent saw Guo Shao's face and didn't say anything. Guo Shao was still sitting by the fire looking at the sky, thinking: Damn, this rain is so soft and there is no sign of stopping. It won't rain for ten days or half a month. If it rains for too long, the food and grass brought with the army will not be enough. It is very difficult to transport food from the rear of Wushan County on the mountain road when it rains.
Guo Shao sat down in front of a rough chopping board, took out a newly made map from the package, and took out a ruler to estimate the approximate distance.
Now, even if they throw away some baggage and keep walking slowly, they can still reach Kuizhou. The key is that they are afraid that the Shu army will not be able to take Kuizhou for a while if they defend the city. The army will not have enough food: 20,000 soldiers need 40,000 to 60,000 kilograms of food a day, and the horses eat more. Kuizhou is far from the rear, and it is extremely difficult to transport food to meet the needs of the army on rainy days by relying on the Caotang River Valley supply line. If the rain does not stop, the Zhou army will be in a dilemma. Being careless may have serious consequences.
If we want to play it safe, we can consider returning along the original route while the army still has food and has only traveled half the way. At most, we will lose some baggage and return empty-handed. But after returning, we have to take this road to attack Kuizhou. This mess will hurt morale. Let everyone crawl on this rugged mountain road in the rain to return to Wushan County.
Find two messengers to deliver the letter to Guo Shaodao from Li Gu in Wushan County.
He picked up the pen and his words were very serious: even if we had to organize militiamen to line up from Wushan County to Caotang River, we had to use people to deliver military rations.
At this time, generals Shi Yanchao, Yang Biao and others arrived at Guo Shao's tent. There was a commotion in the tent for a while. Shi Yanchao complained: Who chose this day? They didn't even find a half-immortal to look at the almanac.
Yang Biao said: Brother, what should we do now
Guo Shao said coldly: "We will stay here as long as the rain lasts. I have made up my mind. Even if it rains until next year, I will definitely take Kuizhou this time."
When the generals heard this, they immediately stopped making noise and bowed, saying: We will follow the orders of our lord.
Li Dazhu, are you better now? Guo Shao suddenly relaxed and asked.
The solemn atmosphere just now was immediately eased by his words, and everyone started teasing Li Dazhu again. Li Dazhu blushed, but did not dare to ignore the commander, so he had to say: It's almost cured.
Guo Shao asked again: You and Dong Zunhui went to Qumen a while ago, and Dong Zunhui reported that it was not possible to pass by land or water. What was the specific situation
Li Dazhu said: I only saw a rapids, the river was only a few dozen steps wide. Unless there was a strong east wind and the sails were hoisted, the power of the oars and water wheels would not be enough for the experienced trackers to pull the boats off the stone walls by the river. But the Shu army's navy was upstream and could shoot the trackers to death with bows and crossbows. There were also crossbows on the Shu army's warships.
Guo Shao drew two lines and asked in detail where the Shu navy was docked and where the boatmen pulled the boats from. After talking to Li Dazhu, he wrote a letter to Dong Zunhui, asking him if he could find a way to use the boatmen's route to deploy troops to the Shu navy's docking point and to gain a foothold, so that the Shu army's ships had no fixed place. According to Guo Shao's idea, the river was so fast that the warships could not stay still by just dropping anchor. As long as the Shu army's ships floated down, they would be surrounded by the Zhou army's warships and caught in a trap.
However, the specific situation still needs to be judged by Dong Zunhui. Guo Shao is not there, so he cannot issue a death order based on just a few words of description and imagination.