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The Storm in the Late Ming Dynasty Volume 11 Chapter 653: Riding the Wind and Snow to Luoyang (1)

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    "It's really cold."

    "Cold is good, colder is better. Cold is our comrade. If it is still so cold when we arrive in Mengjin, then the Yellow River must be frozen. We don't need to build any pontoon bridge, we can just cross the river directly!"

    Li Mingshan looked at the road ahead and smiled at his subordinates' words.

    He would not place his hopes on a sudden turn of cold weather. That was what rogue bandits like Li Zicheng did.  He preferred to keep everything under his control. For example, before this battle, he had personally acted as a guard for the Yellow River Water Research Association and visited Mengjin to investigate.

    Nominally, Tian Boguang and Gu Jiaming are the leaders of this battle, but he and his brother Li Qingshan both have their own ambitions.  Their brothers were the vanguard of this battle, and his elder brother snatched the mission to attack Kaifeng City. The military intelligence system of the Chinese Army has not been idle these years. Kaifeng City has long been riddled with holes, and many people have taken orders from the Chinese Army. Therefore,  , it is not difficult to break through the closed city.

    "The job Li Mingshan grabbed was to attack Luoyang.

    Ox Venus is cunning and insidious, but has no quick wit. Therefore, if things happen suddenly, he will not think carefully.  Now, he should have received news that the Chinese army had launched an attack on Kaifeng. If his attention was attracted by Kaifeng, Li Mingshan's troops suddenly appeared in Mengjin and penetrated into Luoyang. Then Niu Jinxing would have no choice but to abandon the city and flee.  , there will be no other choice.

    He definitely does not have the courage to live or die with the city.

    "Where is the front, how far is it from Mengjin Ferry?" Li Mingshan asked when he saw the scout coming back.

    "This is Dayugou in Wen County, still a hundred miles away from Mengjin Ferry!"

    "It looks like there will be wind and snow tonight." Li Mingshan looked up at the sky and muttered.

    There is still a hundred miles to go. This distance is not difficult for him, when the Chinese Army was still the Tiger Guard.  The rapid marching army, which traveled hundreds of miles day and night, was training.  Almost once every two months.  At that time, he was surprised that Yu Guozhen fed and drank enough for these soldiers.  Probably because they are afraid that they will be idle, they do this kind of training to consume their excessive energy.

    Now he is no longer strange, if at all strange.  I am also surprised by Yu Guozhen's far-sightedness in military training - is there really a saint in this world who is born to know it? Otherwise, why could Commander Yu Guozhen think of so many details?

    The usually hard training is working now.  They traveled an average of more than sixty miles a day these days. At such a speed, even the war horses could not bear it. Therefore, although many of them brought horses, they led the horses forward on foot. Only the scouts rode back and forth.  But that's it.  They still maintain high morale and energy.

    But if the wind and snow comes, and it is a blizzard, then the speed of travel will be affected.  Wait for Niu Venus to react.  The problem is somewhat serious.  It's not that Luoyang can't be captured.  Li Mingshan was convinced that his troops would capture Luoyang City without any problems.  But if the fight isn't pretty and you've been injured too much, that's not pretty either.

    "Work harder and get to Mengjin Ferry before the storm comes. Let's break into Luoyang City and make mutton dumplings for the New Year!"

    His words were quickly spread by his subordinates, and after a while, there were calls of "enter Luoyang City and celebrate the New Year with mutton dumplings."

    ¡°It¡¯s getting late now, do you want to set up camp?¡± A subordinate asked in a low voice.

    Li Mingshan looked up at the sky again, then took out his pocket watch and looked at it.

    The miniaturization of pocket watches has always been a problem. Even the pocket watches made by the most outstanding craftsmen in Xinxiang are only as big as a fist, and the number produced each year is still very limited.  As an important tool, it is given priority to the Chinese Army, and Li Mingshan naturally has it.

    It was only 4:30 in the afternoon. Because of winter and thick clouds, it was getting late.

    "Continue, wait until five o'clock, and then prepare to set up camp." Li Mingshan said.

    But not long after walking, the clouds above our heads became thicker, making the sky darker. Thirty meters away, it became difficult to see the road ahead clearly.  Li Mingshan ordered the entire army to light torches and oil lamps, and braved the cold wind to continue moving forward. However, after walking for less than half a mile, a scout came over on Pegasus: "Tuanzheng, look quickly, look across the Yellow River!"

    They were walking along the north bank of the Yellow River, and the scout showed him the south bank.  Li Mingshan climbed up to the higher part of the Yellow River embankment and looked towards the south bank. He saw a starry fire dragon walking in the same direction as them.

    "Huh?" Li Mingshan's brows suddenly knitted together.

    According to the information he obtained, Niu Jinxing stationed Liu Xiyao in Kaifeng and himself in Luoyang. However, he was still worried because there were still 50,000 troops stationed at Hulao Pass.

    These 50,000 people are the elite that Niu Jinxing relies on most. Liu Xiyao delayed the enemy in Kaifeng, and then these five peoplePeople blocked Hulao Pass and responded to Liu Xiyao.  Now this fire dragon is clearly the enemy at Hulao Pass, and is rapidly coming to Luoyang for reinforcements.

    This time, Niu Jinxing was afraid of making another wrong decision in an emergency situation, but this wrong decision was made by mistake.  Niu Jinxing may not know that there is such a force on the north bank of the Yellow River rushing towards the center of his rule, but if the enemy at Hulao Pass reaches Mengjin Ferry first and holds the Yellow River, it will be difficult for him to force the crossing.

    "The other party should have discovered us." He looked at the torches on his side and began to regret a little. Maybe he shouldn't have rushed to light the torches. He should have thought that after lighting the torches and oil lamps, it would inevitably attract the attention of the other side of the river. Even if  Without this returning force, others would see it.

    But soon, Li Mingshan put away the regret in his heart: regret is useless, now he still has a chance to win!

    "Tell the whole army that the enemy is on the other side of the river. Whether we can win or not depends on whether our two legs can outrun the enemy!" Li Mingshan did not hide his true intention: "We will not rest tonight. We will have dry food for dinner."  To deal with it, just ask the gang leader to boil water in the front and supply hot water!"

    After giving the order, a group of soldiers immediately galloped on horseback, about five miles ahead of the large group of people, and began to boil water. By the time the army arrived, pots of boiling water had already appeared on the roadside.

    The equipment of the Huaxia Army inherits the standards of the Tiger Guard. Every soldier has a military enamel kettle among his belongings.  The soldiers stopped, filling themselves with a pot of hot water, and taking a breather.  After drinking a little water, they set off again.  Walk quickly forward.

    Li Mingshan is just like a soldier.  They were all marching on foot, and he stepped forward only after the soldiers in front of him had scooped water from the pot.  Fill your own camp bottle with hot water as well.

    Just now, his body was covered in hot sweat caused by the rapid march, but now when the wind blew on him, he was already freezing to the bone.

    "Can you still walk?" he asked a soldier sitting next to him who was panting.

    "Yes!" The soldier stood up immediately.  He strode forward and caught up with the team in a blink of an eye.

    Li Mingshan smiled, then turned back to his instructor and said, "Instructor, I have something to trouble you."

    In the military system of the Chinese Army, the treatment of instructors is the same as that of chief officers at the same level, but they are not allowed to interfere with the military orders of chief officers at the same level - unless the instructor confirms that the chief officer at the same level has rebelled.  However, the punishment of soldiers by officers at the same level must be confirmed by the instructor.  Therefore, Li Mingshan is quite polite to his instructors.

    "Tuanzheng just gives orders!"

    "Please lead a team to stay behind and take care of the fallen soldiers. Especially those whose health is really unable to support them. Pay attention to ensure their safety as much as possible."

    "yes."

    The instructor is also a soldier, and he also needs to march in a hurry.  Li Mingshan's arrangement was actually a kind of care for him.  Of course he knows.  And when he said "yes", he agreed with Li Mingshan's order to march overnight.  Share with Li Mingshan the risk that soldiers may be injured or even die from exhaustion.

    Then the march of the Chinese army became faster, and the army on the other side of the river gradually fell behind. At first, their torches could still be seen in the distance, but by midnight, only a few of them were still fighting with the Chinese army.  Keeping pace, these are the other's cavalry.  By about three o'clock in the morning, even these cavalry were already lagging behind to the point where they could not be seen.

    And Li Mingshan¡¯s troops finally arrived at Mengjin Ferry!

    Running hundreds of miles in one night, this speed is enough to make Li Mingshan proud.  But he was not in the mood to calculate this yet. His first question after arriving at Mengjin Ferry was: "How is the Yellow River freezing?"

    The scout exploring the path was breathing heavily. Under the firelight, the white air he breathed out was like ice slag falling from the sky: "It's frozen solid. I went back and forth twice, and there's no problem!"

    "Okay, okay!" Li Mingshan laughed at this time.

    This is because God saw his hard work and came to help him once!

    "Cross the river, and thentake over Luoyang!"

    In Luoyang City, Niu Jinxing suddenly sat up from the bed. The beautiful woman on the bedside was frightened and her eyes widened.

    Since she had a premonition that Yu Guozhen might attack him, Niu Jinxing would not turn off the lights when sleeping at night. Therefore, under the light, the beautiful woman could see fear flashing in Niu Jinxing's eyes.

    "Prime Ministerwhat's wrong?" the beautiful woman asked softly, gently stroking the cold sweat on Niu Jinxing's forehead with her own hand.

    Niu Jinxing roughly pushed her hand away, sat under the quilt for a while, and then got out of bed.

    "Is there any military information coming from outside?" he asked.

    &nbsp"Who broke into the Prime Minister's Mansion without permission?" As if in response to his question, shouts and urgent footsteps came from outside.

    "Let him in." Niu Jinxing said without waiting for a reply.

    Soon, a messenger from Mengjindu appeared in front of Niu Jinxing with a face full of fear: "Prime Minister, something bad is going on. The Chinese army is invading in large numbers. Mengjindu has few soldiers, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend it. Please prime minister to send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

    Mengjin Ferry!

    It¡¯s not that Niu Jinxing doesn¡¯t pay attention to Mengjin Ferry. Here, he arranged 10,000 defenders at more than ten ferry crossings stretching for tens of miles. This number is already one-third of the entire Luoyang defenders.  There is a natural moat of the Yellow River, and it stands to reason that with these ten thousand defenders, it is enough to maintain peace of mind. However, Niu Jinxing understands that facing the Chinese army, even a hundred thousand defenders cannot rest easy!

    "Damn it, it turned out to be Meng Jindu, it turned out to be Meng Jindu!"

    Because of the uneasy premonition, he had already issued an order to the garrison at Hulao Pass in advance, asking them to return for reinforcements at night.  Now it seems that his unreasonable order at the time may be the key to saving the situation: "Where are the sergeants from Hulao Pass?"

    After saying this, he realized that this was not in his military tent, but in his Prime Minister's Mansion.  He was not surrounded by generals.

    He calmed down and ordered: "Beat the drum, gather the generals!"

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