Chapter 1059: Crossing the River
Yanzi River is in Guangshui, and there are only a few places suitable for crossing the river. After Shengbao reached Yanzi River, the first thing he did was to demolish the only stone bridge connecting the two sides of the river, and at the same time began to build camps in dangerous places. During the day, scouts went out and patrolled along the river. Once the traces of the Northern Tang army were found, they could immediately return it.
Whether it is the Tang army to rebuild the bridge, to search for ships or build rafts, it is not possible to succeed in a short period of time. As long as the warning time is early enough, half-crossing strike is not as good as it can be. No matter how fierce the Northern Tang army is, under such natural geographical advantages, can it still grow wings and fly over?
General Xiang Zhen’s tens of thousands of reinforcements were about to arrive. When this army arrived, the Southern Alliance troops gathered in Guangshui would have as many as 100,000. Generals like Shengbao felt that this battle should be sure to win. They completely took Guangshui, defeated Shi Zhuang from Xinyang, and then took Xinyang down, and then E Yue would be safe.
After all, the Tang army opposite is only 30,000 to 40,000.
With several times the force, who is afraid of whom?
Shengbao is very relaxed.
Liang Han was also very relaxed.
Although the dark clouds on his head and the wind blew in his ears, he saw the weather getting worse little by little. Thousands of cavalry were resting in the valley, and the soldiers were eating their second meal today, and the first meal was stuffed into their stomachs when they set off in the morning.
Thousands of people gathered together, but there was no sound of noise.
The complete logistics supply of the Northern Tang army allowed these soldiers to receive sufficient nutrition guarantee even in high-intensity marching.
The jerky wrapped in butter paper is a little salty. Pour clean water into the fried noodles, stir it, then pour the ingredients into it and stir it together. Finally, the jerky is cut into small strips with a small knife. A meal that is not delicious, but is absolutely full of food is finished.
Before they had eaten, their beloved war horse had been properly cooked. After dinner, they wrapped their big cloak and fell asleep.
The soldiers only need to fight, but the generals have more to do.
Under a big tree, a glass lamp with a cover illuminated Fangyuan several steps. Liang Han used a knife to cut the jerky and ate it while looking at a map of Guangshui in front of him.
"Are you sure you build a bridge here?" He looked at a general in front of him.
"The scouts have already gone to inquire. After excluding several preparatory river crossing sites that the Southern Army focused on guarding, this is the most suitable place." Zhu Fei said.
"The water flow is a little bit faster!" Liang Han said.
"Our engineers went into the water and checked it. The water flow was indeed a bit urgent, but it had not reached our limit yet. Moreover, the deepest water here is only more than ten meters."
"At most, you can get midnight!" Liang Han looked up at the sky, although he couldn't see anything. "It takes time to get wherever you go, and to build a bridge. If it cannot be built at night, it will be impossible to hide it when it comes to daylight. When Shengbao's army arrives, we will waste our efforts."
"Midnight is enough!" Zhu Fei was full of confidence. "A river like this is not a big river. With our latest technology and bridge building tools, it is very fast."
"Okay, go and do your business. I will set out at the fourth hour. At dawn, my army will complete the crossing of the river!" Liang Han stretched.
"As for orders, I'll go now." Zhu Fei stood up without any hesitation, chewing the jerky in his mouth, and turned around and left.
Zhu Fei's confidence comes from the latest technologies and craftsmanship in the Northern Tang Dynasty.
By the Yanzi River.
Taking advantage of the night, the soldiers of the North Tang Dynasty who arrived by the river unloaded bundles of objects from their horses' backs, pulled them apart from the river beach, spread them flat on the river beach, and then found the air inlet from four corners and stuffed a tube in. A soldier began to hold a tube-like thing and press it up and down.
Rubber began to be officially put into military production in Northern Tang Dynasty.
Rubber floats are the latest production.
The pump in the hands of the soldiers is also another derivative product that comes from it.
With the efforts of the soldiers, the originally deflated rubber bags spread on the river beach began to swell. It was not until an officer climbed up and jumped hard for a while before he jumped down and waved with satisfaction.
The cheering soldier immediately took off the air intake pipe, sealed the air intake, and then carefully wrapped it tightly, the four soldiers pulled up the four corners, lifted the big guy who looked big but was not heavy, and sent it to the river.
A soldier came over with a steel brazing, put the steel brazing in a ring in a corner, and then inserted it hard onto the beach. Then another soldier came up with a sledgehammer and took several hammers. The four steel brazings firmly fixed the rubber float to the river.
The second one is connected.
Then there is the third and the fourth.
There is almost no difference other than the steel brazing that fixes them to get longer and longer.
The rubber float slowly extends out above the river surface, and the activity of building bridges does not end there.
Iron rods were tied horizontally to the steel rods inserted on the riverbed, connecting these independent steel rods into one, so that they could have a stronger ability to impact the water flow. On the rubber float, iron rods were also laid on it, and finally, there were wooden boards.
About five hundred soldiers, each performing their own duties, and slowly extended the bridge to the other side on the Yanzi River in an orderly manner.
At this time, Shengbao, who was sleeping soundly in the camp, could never have imagined that someone could build two bridges across the Yanzi River in the middle of the night.
It's really no wonder that he is.
Because this completely exceeded his understanding of war over the past few decades.
The use of new materials in the Northern Tang Dynasty basically appeared first in the military. Only through this cruel war can the capabilities of new materials be more recognized by ordinary people.
At the fourth update, Liang Han woke up from his sleep, stood up and rubbed his face, and was already full of energy. "Everyone is there, ready to set off!"
Thousands of cavalry stood up from the ground, checked their war horses, inspected their armor, and everything was ready. They all turned over and turned their horses and followed Liang Han to cross the river, slowly moving forward.
It was a little bright, and two bridges across the Yanzi River had been completed, more than a hundred steps apart, standing tall above the river.
In the distance, more than ten scouts from the Southern Alliance were slowly riding their horses. They said that they had been patrolling yesterday until midnight before returning to the camp. At this time, they were all sleepy and couldn't help but doze off while sitting on the horse. They were like chickens pecking at rice, walking forward completely.
The leader suddenly pulled his horse and looked into the distance in disbelief.
"What is that?" he asked in a trembling voice.
More than ten people looked in the direction pointed by the leader's arm. In an instant, everyone's sleepiness flew away and burst into tears.
What is that?
They came to patrol here yesterday afternoon. When they returned and returned, there was nothing on the river surface here. Now, there were two bridges.
Yes, those are two bridges.
"There is a ghost!" A soldier suddenly trembled.
If it weren't for something like ghosts and gods, how could it be possible to build two bridges on the Yanzi River overnight?
"It's not a ghost, it's a northerner!" The soldiers led by the army had already reacted when they looked at the Tang Dynasty flag flying on the bridge. At this time, it was obvious that someone on the other side had discovered them, and dozens of cavalry were already running towards them. "Go quickly and go back and tell General Sheng that the northerner has crossed the river!"
More than a dozen scouts turned around and rode their horses and ran.
When the scouts of the Southern Army fled towards the camp, Liang Han had already arrived at the Yanzi River and rode his horse onto the floating bridge. The bridge body sank slightly and floated slightly, but because of the steel brazing that fixed the floating drums on both sides and the iron bars connecting the steel brazings, the shaking was not too obvious.
With his legs clamped, Liang Han accelerated across the floating bridge, and then ran back in a first-class smoke.
"Ten people in groups, cross the river quickly!" Liang Han waved.
Although he tried it himself, Liang Han was still careful. He rode a horse across the river in groups of ten people. From one end to the other, it was only a few breathing time, and it didn't take much time to stop. He wanted everyone to rush forward. If something happened to this thing, it would be too late to cry.
Liang Hanzhi looked proudly at his cavalry crossing the river and gathered on the other side of the Yanzi River. In the Shengbao camp, Shengbao, who had just woken up and had not had time to wash up, stared at the scout who fled back in panic.
"Bridge? Or two? The Northern Tang army is crossing the river?" He asked subconsciously, but his eyes revealed completely unbelievable.
After getting the recognition of the scout, Shengbao jumped up and rushed out of the tent, shouting loudly: "Beat the drum, assemble, and the whole army will go out of the camp."
At this time, Shengbao made a mistake, and his scouts escaped in a panic before they fully found out the other party's background.
When people are in great horror, they always ignore some more important things.
Shengbao did not ask how many troops there were and what kind of troops they were.
If he knew that the cavalry from Northern Tang and all of them were cavalry, he would never have given up on the camp so hasty. At this moment, his mind was rushing over quickly and then attacked halfway.
The enemy will not cross the river so quickly, and it is very likely that it will be too late for me.
Among the five thousand soldiers and horses he commanded, four thousand were infantrymen and one thousand were cavalrymen.
And his opponent, Liang Han, was led by five thousand cavalrymen.
Chapter completed!