Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

Flying flowers in late spring floated melodiously in the air, and the brown ground was speckled. 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 with a sword, and behind her stood a black and strong woman carrying a big burden.

Grandma Wushan was dressed in a cloth robe, her hair was all white and wrapped in cloth, and she was also carrying a bundle. Guo Shao kept his eyes on Lu Lan, a young lady with bulging breasts and waist and buttocks; the girl's figure is very different, which can be seen at a glance.

"Aren't you guys going to leave? Why is Marshal Guo staring at me?" Lu Lan muttered.

Guo Shao persuaded: "The marching and deployment is very difficult, and it is not convenient for women. In this way, let your third aunt go to Chengdu with us to find someone; I will send you to Tokyo. Don't you trust me about this?"

Lu Lan whispered: "I'm worried that my third aunt has no one to take care of me on the way, and my third aunt has never traveled far... General Guo, I will follow to Kuizhou to see if my third aunt is safe on the way, and then how about going to Tokyo?"

Guo Shao thought that it was only a hundred miles from Wushan County to Kuizhou, and he would be able to send her away in a few days, so he immediately said: "Is this really true? A gentleman's words..."

"A four-horse is hard to follow!" Lu Lan said cheerfully.

Guo Shao nodded and looked up at the sky: "I just hope that it won't rain for three or four days."

...

Two days later, it rained.

In the hall of the camp of the Central Army of Kuizhou, Ningjiang Jiedu Envoy Gao Yanchou stood at the gate and looked at the pattering rain outside, saying, "It's raining well!"

Wang Zhaoyuan, the military supervisor of the East Route, who was reading the file on the public seat, asked casually, "What's so good about it?"

"It's raining, how did the Zhou army come to Kuizhou by mountain road?" Gao Yanchou said, "In this season, if it rains lightly for a month and a half, it doesn't need to be too heavy, just like this, Kuizhou will be able to defend for a while longer."

Wang Zhaoyuan said: "What mountain road? Is Zhou Jun going to cross the mountain of Qutang Gorge?"

Gao Yanchou said: "Cross the mountain from the north of Chijia Mountain (Qumen North Mountain), go south along the Caotang River Valley; then cross the Cang River and approach the city of Kuizhou. Why are the Zhou troops still going to Qumen?"

Wang Zhaoyuan, who was still very calm at first, stared and stood up in shock: "Why didn't you say it earlier?!"

"Wang Jianjun is strategizing and controlling the military power on the East Road. Could it be that he hasn't even figured out the terrain and roads around Kuizhou?" Gao Yanchou was also surprised, "I thought you knew everything about it a long time ago, so you didn't say much."

Wang Zhaoyuan's aides chimed in: "How long has Deputy Envoy Wang been in Kuizhou? He has to deploy defenses and plan a general plan, how can he know exactly what mountain roads are there? Since General Gao has long been serving as Jiedu envoy in Kuizhou, such an important matter is actually being discussed now!"

Gao Yanchou frowned, unable to explain: "This..."

"Mountain road?" Wang Zhaoyuan was only shocked for a while, and soon calmed down, "Can the mountain road walk an army?"

Gao Yanchou said: "As long as you are determined to go to a place, you will be able to take the army. The cliffs and cliffs on the Shu Road can also be built, let alone the mountain road? Let's burn the plank road at Qumen. If Zhou Jun doesn't want to wait for the plank road to be repaired slowly, he should find another way to come... But Deputy Envoy Wang, it is raining now, and the mountain road is full of mud. It is really impossible to walk the army. Zhou Jun will not be able to get through for a while."

"The rain will stop!" Wang Zhaoyuan said angrily, "We can't stop the Zhou army, they will come to the city sooner or later!"

Gao Yanchou was also confused: "The deputy envoy of King Ganqing once thought that the Zhou army would not come to the city?"

Wang Zhaoyuan said: "I burned the plank road, and our army's navy is upstream. Zhou's army can't advance by land and water, how can we come here? Who knows there is another crooked way!" He stretched out his finger and pointed at Gao Yanchou's nose, shaking, "You... Gao Jieshuai! Even if you have prejudices against Wang, you can't keep informed about military affairs and delay important events. What's your intention?"

Gao Yanchou said: "What intentions can I have? Is it good for Gao if we can't defend Kuizhou? But if our troops can't win, there is nothing we can do. Now we have to close the city gates and defend the city, blocking the day. Anyway, sooner or later the Zhou army will come, and sooner or later they will take Kuizhou. Unless it really rains for a month or two, the Zhou army may not be able to bear it and retreat..."

"Haha..." Wang Zhaoyuan suddenly raised his head and laughed, "It's ridiculous! It's so strange! There are still generals like you in this world, and you are sure to lose before you fight, so why should we fight?"

"Yeah, what else are we going to fight?" Gao Yanchou was stunned, "But you and I have received the favor of the emperor, and we can only do our duty here. Even if we lose, we are worthy of His Majesty and the people of Sichuan. That's why I said that blocking the day counts as a day, and delaying the day is the best policy."

Wang Zhaoyuan said anxiously: "Just wait and see how I can defeat Zhou Jun. When I return to the court sometime later, I'll see if I don't join you!"

...

The rain at this time was indeed a disaster for Zhou Jun. Nearly 20,000 troops were trapped in the valley of the Caotang River. This is a small river, the valley is neither deep nor flat, both sides are full of low but rugged mountains, and the road is relatively narrow. The 20,000 horses estimated that they pulled back and forth for fifteen miles, and they were afraid to move halfway, and they had stopped marching and set up tents to set up camp.

Holding a wooden stick, Guo Shao trudged in the rain for a while. His clothes were all wet, and the rainwater flowed from the edge of the helmet to his face. He wiped it with his hand, thinking: I think I have never done anything harmful to nature.

"My lord, let's go back, soldiers, horses and vehicles can't move on this kind of road." The accompanying general persuaded.

Guo Shao looked up and saw the endless tents by the river, with no front and rear, like a long dead snake lying on the road. He slipped step by step, and walked back cautiously and with difficulty with a wooden stick for support.

The environment here looks beautiful, but it is not such a comfortable place. Going out in the rain is a pain in the ass. There are no clean concrete roads in ancient times. The roads are full of mud. After walking for a while, half of the body is covered with mud... The mud puddles are the most dirty, but the key is that if you slip a little carelessly, you will fall. The rain is not heavy. Anyway, Guo Shao had a very difficult time walking by himself, and the soldiers who pushed the vehicles and carried heavy loads were probably even more miserable.

In the gray sky, Guo Shao returned to the tent of the Chinese army already feeling depressed.

Everyone hid in the tent to warm up and shelter from the rain, and the ground inside was also full of mud. People cut some branches to lay on the mud, cut grass to make another layer, and then spread tung oilcloth, blankets and quilts on it, which is the bed. The rain was still running between the branches under the bed.

Don't dare to burn too hot, put a pot on it as a flame, otherwise the tent will have to be burned. Guo Shao took off his wet clothes and changed into dirty but dry clothes. Lu Chengyong helped him to hang the branches by the stove for roasting.

Seeing Guo Shao's uneasy expression, the people in the tent didn't say a word. Guo Shaoyou sat by the fire and looked at the sky, thinking: Oh, the rain is pattering and soft, so it doesn't mean it won't stop, it won't last ten days and a half months, right? If it takes too long, the food and grass that accompany the army will not be enough. It is very difficult to transport grain from the rear of Wushan County on the rainy mountain road.

Guo Shao sat in front of a rough chopping board, dug out a newly made map from the package, and took out a ruler to estimate the approximate distance.

Now throw away some luggage and insist on walking slowly to get to Kuizhou. The key is that the Shu army will not be able to take Kuizhou for a while, and the army will not be enough. The 20,000 troops need 40,000 to 60,000 catties of food a day, and the horses have even more food... Reaching Kuizhou is farther to the rear. If the rain doesn't stop, Zhou Jun will be caught in a dilemma. Carelessness can have serious consequences.

If you want to be safe, you can consider returning along the original road while there is still food in the army and the road is only halfway, and you can lose some supplies at most and return in vain. But what about after going back? Still have to take this road to attack Kuizhou... It hurts morale to make everyone go back to Wushan County on this rugged mountain road in the rain?

"Find two messengers to deliver letters to Li Gu in Wushan County!" Guo Shao said.

He raised his pen, and the wording was very serious: Even if he organizes civilian soldiers to line up from Wushan County to Caotang River, the military rations must be passed on by people.

At this moment, Shi Yanchao, Yang Biao and other generals arrived at Guo Shao's tent, and there was a commotion in the tent for a while, Shi Yanchao complained: "Who chooses this day, and I won't find a demigod to look through the almanac."

Yang Biao said, "Brother, what should we do now?"

Guo Shao said coldly: "As long as it rains, we will stay here as long as possible. I have made up my mind that even if it goes down next year, I will take Kuizhou this time!"

When the generals heard this, they immediately stopped making noise, and bowed one after another: "I would like to obey the command of the lord."

"Li Dazhu, have you recovered from your illness?" Guo Shao suddenly asked with a sigh of relief.

The awe-inspiring atmosphere just now was immediately relieved by his words, and everyone laughed at Li Dazhu again. Li Dazhu blushed, but he didn't dare to ignore the general, so he said, "It's almost... healed."

Guo Shao asked again: "You went to Qumen with Dong Zunhui a while ago, and Dong Zunhui told you that you can't pass by water or land. What's the specific situation?"

Li Dazhu said: "I just saw a torrent, the river is only a few dozen steps wide, unless there is a strong east wind to blow the sails, otherwise the force of the oars and the waterwheel is not enough to rush the river... Experienced trackers can pull boats from the stone walls by the river; but upstream, relying on the Shu army navy, they shot the trackers to death with bows and crossbows, and there are ballistas on the Shu army warships."

Guo Shao drew two lines and asked in detail where the Shu army's navy was leaning and where the trackers were pulling the boat. After talking with Li Dazhu, he wrote a letter to ask Dong Zunhui, since the tracker can go, can he think of a way to send troops to the tracker's road, reach the docking point of the Shu army navy, and stand still, so that the Shu army ships have no fixed place... According to Guo Shao's thinking, the river is so fast that the warships cannot be anchored alone.

But Dong Zunhui had to judge the specific situation. Guo Shao was not there, so he couldn't just give a death order based on a few words of description and imagination.