Chapter 766 Covered Bridge
The baldness that escaped to Hangjin was still uncertain. The bad news behind him chased him like wings. Wuhai failed that night. The 20,000 soldiers and horses left as cannon fodder indeed became cannon fodder, and only fled to Hangjin one after another to less than 2,000. The rest were either killed or captured, which can be said to be the destruction of the whole army.
Hangjin City is dead, and the generals dare not even breathe loudly. Looking at the gloomy face of the sweat as solemn as the bottom of the pot, everyone understands that any little thing may make Khan vent his anger on himself; although everyone slandered the sweaty decision, no one dares to say anything.
Two days later, the scouts kept listening to the Ming army's movements and sent the news. After leaving Wuhai, the Ming army went directly north into the sea of death, Ulanbu and the desert, and did not go east to Hangzhou Jin as expected. For the abnormal behavior of the Ming army, they quickly understood their intention.
This is to directly attack the mouth, seize Linhe County from the Yellow River where the mouth is located, and take your own back road. Song Nan, Song Nan, your heart is very big, and your heart is very cruel.
While sighing, the baldness can respond immediately. In fact, there are not many ways to deal with it. The only thing that can be done is to immediately return the main force to the north of the Yellow River and concentrate the remaining more than 6,000 soldiers and horses in the north of the Yellow River, such as the Wuyuan, the former Zhongqi in Urat, Guyang and other places to guard Linhe County, and use the Yellow River as a fortification to block the Ming army. South of the Yellow River.
On the day when 20,000 main forces were evacuated from Hangjin, the bald man realized that a large area of land south of the Yellow River had never belonged to him. For decades, this land has accumulated a large amount of property for the Tatar Kingdom, feeds more than 100,000 Tatar people, and produces countless cattle, sheep and horses. This is the best pasture and food-producing land, and it is so easy to give it away. Even if there are tens of kinds of helplessness and unwillingness, under this general situation, the bald decision is still decisive. The main force withdraws to the north of the Yellow River, and will quickly rush west to Linhe Town with thousands of eagle cannons of eagle cannons arriving at night.
What is most worried about the news of the success of the Ming army crossing the river halfway. Although he himself thinks it is unlikely, the Ming army faces the rapid and open Yellow River after crossing the desert. It will take at least six or seven days, but he no longer believes his judgment in his heart. ; In the face of opponents like Song Nan, he is suppressed by others everywhere and led by the nose everywhere. The self-confidence established for a long time has almost been lost.
When the whole army arrived at Wuyuan on a starry night, the good news came. The Ming army had just arrived in Yingkou for a day. At this moment, there was no movement to cross the river and was only stationed on the grassland east of Yingkou to rest. He was overjoyed, urged the soldiers and horses to run 120 miles overnight, killed hundreds of war horses, and finally arrived in Linhe County. Next, 40 eagle cannons were set up on the shore high ground one after another, and the soldiers were immediately driven away to build fortifications along the river bank after a short rest. A large number of bows and arrows were transported to the soldiers, and dozens of eagle cannons were in place, which made the baldness breathe a sigh of relief.
In the face of such a powerful resistance, it is basically impossible for the Ming army to cross this section of the Yellow River. If he didn't want to expose that the eagle cannon was already equipped on the shore, he would have wanted to bombard dozens of cannons to the other side to provoke.
While the Tarot troops on the other side were actively deployed in place, the Ming army camp south of the Yellow River was also busy. On the barren grassland under two hills more than 30 miles east of the camp, nearly 5,000 Ming troops continued to carry the felled wood from the hill and piled up on the grass. The two hills were originally full of pines and cypresses and various miscellaneous trees. In a few days, the trees on the mountain were cut down into a bald mountain. However, all pine and cypress trees that are thicker than the arm and longer than three feet have been cut down and transported to the foot of the mountain. Hundreds of craftsmen were busy chopping and shaving.
Song Nan fulfilled his promise and led the generals to come here to inspect. This is the place where Song Nan said to build tools to cross the river. The generals opened their mouths and looked at the busy scene all over the mountains and fields. I don't know what the general is going to create and make such a big battle.
It has been explained in advance that this is not a shipbuilding. It is difficult to build many ships that can transport tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete it by tomorrow spring. What is this pile of wooden shelves with building blocks for? It has become the biggest mystery in the hearts of the generals.
"You might as well guess what this is." Song Nan knew that everyone was very confused and asked the generals with a smile.
Everyone guessed and Song Nan always shook his head. Finally, Xu Tai guessed some edges: "Looking like a pontoon bridge, the general is not really building a pontoon bridge. Such a wide river is so rapid, even if it can get on the pontoon bridge, it has become a live target of the Tart."
Song Nan nodded and said, "That's right. It's indeed a pontoon bridge, but it's an ordinary pontoon bridge. To be precise, this is a floating corridor. Look at the assembled things over there. The top and sides are sealed with trees and connected together like a floating corridor? This is much faster than shipbuilding. The bottom is wide and the upper side is narrow. It floats on the water and overturns. People charge to the opposite bank inside, ignoring the arrows on the opposite side. What needs to be solved now is the rocket problem. It also needs to be covered with a layer of arson. I have asked the military craftsmen, and they said that covering thick sand with linoleum can effectively block the shooting of rockets. Isn't there much sand? There are many in the desert behind.
The generals were stunned. This kind of corridor bridge across the river was the first time to see it. Who would have thought of avoiding the arrows on the other side in this way? The whole person is like walking in a cave, completely fearless of the attack of arrows, which is an excellent way.
"General, humble position is not a bar. This kind of floating bridge can indeed float on the water, and people can not be hurt by arrows, but how can such a rapid current fix this thing on the water? It may not be easy to install the connection. Xu Tai frowned.
Song Nan smiled and said, "It's very simple. Have you seen those big stones? Each four corners are tied with a thick rope and the rock sank under the water, just like the anchor chain of a ship, but it is simple, which can effectively solve this problem. The craftsmen have done experiments, which are very stable except for slightly fluctuating with the waves. Not only can people pass quickly, but also horses and small vehicles. After the army successfully crossed the river, they built more than a dozen giant rafts to transport heavy firearms across the river.
The generals have nothing to say but slap their mouths. Just arrived yesterday, the general immediately sent someone to build this thing after inspecting the river on the bank of the Yellow River last night. While most people were struggling with how to cross the river, the general had begun to do it. When the general proposed to visit here this afternoon, everyone was still a little suspicious. Now it seems that this worry is purely superfluous.
In order to dispel everyone's doubts, Song Nan ordered people to pull more than ten sections of the completed trapezoidal wooden corridor to the riverside. After tying large plates of stone into the four corners, the wooden corridor is indeed as stable as Mount Tai; a section of the wooden corridor is connected dozens of steps away from the river bank, although the water is getting stronger and more and more It is rapid, but except for some ups and downs, it does not affect the travel on it at all.
The generals smacked their tongues and looked at Song Nan's eyes full of admiration. Perhaps only the person in front of them could think of such a solution. If it were any person, I'm afraid there would be no way to do it except to take a boat.
With the assistance of thousands of soldiers, the progress is fast, but the wood can't keep up. Ma Ming had to send more than a thousand cavalry to search deep in the grassland and find several small forests and tree-filled hills. A few hours later, these hills and forests became bare.
A day later, more than 300 trapezoidal wooden corridors were neatly arranged on the bank of the bank of the Yellow River. The carriage pulled a cart of linoleum rock and sand dug from the desert more than ten miles away. Thousands of soldiers and craftsmen were busy doing the final renovation and equipment of these wooden corridors. The linoleum is covered on the top and sides, and a thick layer of sand is densely sprinkled on it, and then sprayed with water until it is wet. As a precaution, the wooden corridor is equipped with a long-handled container. Once a fire breaks out, you can use the river water on the spot to extinguish the fire.
After dark, the wooden corridor began to be slowly connected and built. The cold wind on the river was piercing and the river was cold. More than a thousand soldiers stood on the waist-deep shore shoal. Push the wooden corridors into the deep water, then pull them to the end with a rope, put the large plate stone into the water to fix it, and then connect it with the fixed end with a hinge.
The rapid water flow still has huge obstacles. The whole wooden corridor is also curved into an arc in the downstream direction, but it still extends forward stubbornly. At three o'clock, more than 100 wooden corridors have been installed, and the length has been more than 400 steps long. Looking under the starlight, it is like a long dragon winding on the water, slowly Slowly squirming, extremely spectacular.