nucmednet Chapter 485: Intersection Terrain
Chapter 485: Intersection Terrain
Regardless of whether Jiao Zan fully understood what he meant, Yelu Qing looked at Jiao Zan, whose eyes were already beginning to blur, and knew in his heart that he could not let him continue drinking.
After all, the army has to reorganize and set off tomorrow, and drinking in the army will delay the march.
If Gulzar knew about this, even if he was not punished by Dun Chanyu afterwards, his reputation would definitely be damaged.
Inside the tent, the candlelight flickered gently in the breeze, and the smell of alcohol filled the air.
Yelu Qing drank another bowl of wine with Jiao Zan, then patted Jiao Zan on the shoulder affectionately and ordered his men to help him up and send him back to his own military camp.
Jiao Zan staggered and mumbled some unclear words. With the help of the guards, he slowly disappeared into the night outside the tent.
The next morning, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the blue sky was like a clear gem.
The sun shone on the earth, covering the entire camp with a golden glow.
Gulzar was in high spirits, riding on a tall warhorse and wearing heavy armor that gleamed with a cold metallic luster under the sunlight.
He waved his hand majestically and shouted, "Let's go!"
The soldiers behind him responded in unison, their voices resounding through the sky, and then the team marched towards their destination in a mighty manner.
Jiao Zan followed closely behind Gulizar, also riding a strong warhorse, with a serious expression and determination in his eyes.
As the troops gradually moved away, Yelu Qing turned and headed towards Zhang Xuegeng's army.
In Zhang Xuegeng's military camp, the soldiers were carrying out their daily drills in an orderly manner, with shouts of killing coming one after another.
Yelu Qing walked through the passage between the tents, came to Zhang Xuegeng's tent, lifted the curtain and walked in.
"Well, the rest of Shizhou City depends on Marshal Zhang. This is the beginning of your journey."
Yelu Qing looked at Zhang Xuegeng sitting in the tent with a hint of expectation in his eyes.
Zhang Xuegeng naturally understood the deep meaning behind Yelu Qing's words. He smiled confidently and said cheerfully, "Don't worry. With the troops I have now, plus the weapons and supplies given by the leader, defending Shizhou City will not be difficult at all."
"I don't know whether this battle southward will be a blessing or a curse. I always have a vague worry in my heart."
Yelu Qing frowned slightly and spoke in a lack of interest, with a hint of worry in his eyes.
"So, does the leader hope for good or bad luck?"
Zhang Xuegeng raised his head slightly and asked back, staring at Yelu Qing, trying to find the answer from his expression.
"We are all men from the grassland. I don't wish anything good or bad for us."
Yelu Qing sighed softly. In his heart, he actually hoped to withdraw his troops rather than stay in a stalemate and waste time.
He thought to himself that if he could win the battle of Pingyang, it would certainly not be a bad thing, but it would take a little longer to achieve his plan.
Once the army withdraws from Bingzhou, Zhang Xuegeng and others will stay. At that time, the situation will be clear, and he will be able to unite all those who are willing to consolidate their territory and jointly establish his own kingdom.
……
To go south to Pingyang, you must take Jiaokou, which is the only way.
Jiaokou is a small county town located between two places. It has a unique terrain with steep mountains on both sides, forming a natural pass.
On weekdays, this is just a small place with only about 10,000 people.
After the Shizhou army evacuated, they were the first to settle here.
At this time, the intersection was full of soldiers standing on the city wall. They were busy reinforcing the wall. Heavy stones were lifted up to fill the gaps in the wall.
On both sides of the pass and the mountains, mortars were set up, with the black muzzles pointing into the distance, as if silently declaring the defensive power here.
After a day's march, Gulizar's army camped in an open area fifty miles away from the intersection.
Inside the camp, the soldiers quickly set up tents and lit a bonfire.
Gulizar was well aware of the importance of this place, so he sent out several teams to patrol and set up three patrol posts within a radius of ten miles.
In fact, there is another important thing about setting up camp here, which is to investigate the defense situation at the intersection.
As the night deepened, the occasional neighing of war horses could be heard from the camp.
Gulzar sat in the tent, frowning, waiting for news from the scout. Finally, after waiting all night, the scout hurried into the tent.
"Lord Zuo, there's a pass built here, blocking the mountain pass. Although it's small, there are soldiers guarding the mountains on both sides. It looks like there are about a thousand of them."
The scout knelt on one knee and reported respectfully.
Gulizar thought to himself: There are so many troops deployed in such a small place. If a war really breaks out, there will be very limited room for maneuver!
He frowned slightly and said, "Well, let's explore further. We need to find a suitable position where we can swing our weapons and attack."
In today's wars, everyone has basically learned to use artillery to clear the way. They no longer charge blindly based on their numbers as they did in the past.
"Yes, we will go check it out right away. We must find a position for the army to attack."
The scout answered firmly, saluted, and quickly left the tent.
Gaddafi had previously learned the details from the scouts. After listening to the report again, he turned to Gulzar and said:
"This location is very unique, but one thing is that their county town is low-lying and facing downwards."
Gulizar didn't understand what Gaddafi meant and asked in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"
"We've attacked similar passes before, and when using trebuchets, we found that if we were in a higher position to attack those below, the trebuchets could be launched farther."
Gaddafi explained patiently, and walked to the table in the tent. He bent down, picked up a stone from the ground, and placed it on the table to gesture.
"If we were on this mountain, we would obviously have an advantage in attack, but I'm worried that our artillery wouldn't be able to reach the targets on the opposite mountain."
They had only recently started using these new weapons, and no one could say for sure whether the artillery could reach the opposite mountain.
So they quickly called the young leader in the team who was responsible for firing the artillery.
"Let me ask you, how far can the mortars we have now reach?" Gaddafi asked seriously.
The young leader in charge of the mortars looked at Gulzar first, and seeing that there was nothing wrong with Gaddafi's question, he felt relieved and said cautiously:
"Under normal circumstances, the maximum range is 800 steps. If we take the risk of adding more gunpowder, we can probably reach 1,000 steps, but..."
When the young leader said this, his tone paused slightly and a look of hesitation appeared on his face.
"Tell me, what's the problem?" Gaddafi asked anxiously.
"Adding more gunpowder can indeed increase the range, but there is a risk of explosion." The little leader said hesitantly with a trembling voice.
When Gaddafi heard this question, he showed a look of disapproval on his face. He waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "Is it inevitable that the barrel will explode?"
"It's just a possibility." The little leader lowered his head and spoke in a smaller voice.
"That's fine. It doesn't necessarily explode, so just add more."
Gaddafi spoke firmly as if this was not a big deal.
"Although adding more charge can make the artillery fire farther, it is difficult to control the accuracy. After all, these things require precise testing. Every test requires a scale, and the amount of charge needs to be carefully measured."
Seeing that Gaddafi seemed to not care about their lives, the young leader had no choice but to state another key condition.