mtl008 Chapter 259 Familiarity
Chapter 259 Familiarity
Zong Yanli was worried that Yan Yingshan and his gang of ruffians would abduct the people. If the matter got out of hand and caused resistance from the people, which in turn attracted the attention of the enemy, it would be very disadvantageous to our army.
So Zong Yanli called Zhuang Chengbi and asked him to go with Yan Yingshan and others. It would be best if he disguised himself as a merchant buying ice cubes to get some information, so as to take the opportunity to see where the tools they used were made from.
When Lu Peibai learned about this, he reminded Zhuang Chengbi, "In many towns, the favorite thing for dignitaries to do in winter is to make ice sculptures."
"Many cities even have ice sculpture exhibitions." Lu Peibai looked at Zhuang Chengbi and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhuang can use this as an excuse to get close to the people who collect ice."
"Thank you Mr. Mingxi for your advice." Zhuang Chengbi nodded in response.
"Can something be carved out of ice like this?" Pei Liang asked curiously, tilting his head.
"Of course you can." Mingxi nodded, recalling the ice sculpture exhibition he had seen. The faces of the people carved out of ice were lifelike.
Pei Liang was very shocked, and Zhan Haoyue spoke up immediately afterwards, saying that when he first came to the North, he had also seen the black bear carved out of ice. The burly and ferocious posture left a deep impression on him. Some cities would also hold ice sculpture competitions, and select the most magnificent ice sculpture to be placed in the center of the city.
Lu Peibai tilted his head slightly and said, "Among these ice sculptures, the one who is known as a master craftsman is not from Qi, but from a young man from the Northern Kingdom."
At that time, Qi State paid a large sum of money to invite this person to Qi State and live in the Qi State Palace. They carved a dragon for the king of Qi State, circling a pillar and trying to fly into the sky. Unfortunately, the golden dragon had a broken tail and was made up of broken limbs, which made the king of Qi State furious.
He was about to execute this man, but he had a dream at night. He dreamed that after he killed this man, he suddenly turned into the dragon circling the pillar. He wanted to fly into the sky, but because of his broken tail and limbs, he fell down from the clouds, and someone cut off his dragon head with a knife.
The King of Qi woke up in shock and was told that the sculptor had disappeared without a trace.
"I heard that the cage where this person was imprisoned had not been unlocked, and the chains were intact. This person disappeared from the cell like a gust of wind." Lu Peibai shrugged and said, "This incident also made this person famous."
"As for whether this is true or not, I have no idea." Lu Peibai pursed his lips and smiled.
"There are some great talents in the world, and Qimen Dunjia is even more exquisite." Zhan Haoyue nodded and said, "Although I have never seen it, I would rather believe it than not."
"Since this person is so powerful but has no intention of making money, maybe he really has some skills." Zong Yanli raised her eyebrows and looked up at the ice in front of her, thinking that the best she could do was to chop it into pieces...
Zong Yanli did not ask what happened to the ice in the end. He heard that Zhan Haoyue boasted of his excellent painting skills and wanted to try to carve something on the ice. As a result, his hands were frozen stiff, and he ran to Xiao Tianhe for help.
Zong Yanli felt both amused and helpless after hearing this. He shook his head helplessly and continued to deal with military affairs.
Yan Yingshan and Zhuang Chengbi went out for five or six days in a row. When they came back, they brought back a set of equipment for Zong Yanli, including the ice skates used by those people, the iron feet installed on the horse's hooves, and the ice plates for pulling the cart.
Zhuang Chengbi excitedly took Zong Yanli with him and prepared to find an ice lake to demonstrate the uses of these things to her.
Zong Yanli looked carefully and found that there were several kinds of ice skates. One kind was a pair of shoes that looked like blades and could slide on the ice at a very fast speed. Such shoes were not suitable for walking, but seemed more suitable for chasing.
The other type of ice skates are like tiny and dense nails. They are obviously heavier when worn on the feet. They are made entirely of iron and can grip the ice firmly.
This way, the soles of the shoes can stay on the ice even when facing the wind, and you won't fall easily.
"These shoes are good, but they are made of iron." Zong Yanli took a quick look and said, "You can't walk very fast in such shoes, and they are quite demanding on the wearer. It's difficult for all soldiers in the army to equip them with them."
"The ice plate used to pull the chariot is quite interesting. With this ice plate, the chariot can be dragged effortlessly on the ice."
Zong Yanli already had a plan in mind. After squinting his eyes and thinking for a long time, he decided to come and try it himself.
In addition to the shoes people wear, there are also iron feet that hit the horse's hooves, which also seem to have added densely packed nails.
Zong Yanli planned to let himself and Chi Feng go to the ice lake together to try it out, to see if they could adapt and how long it would take to adapt.
Zong Yanli tried very seriously in the face of the wind and snow. The strange and awkward feeling of wearing ice skates for the first time made it difficult for her to walk. She was afraid of slipping on the ice, so she tried hard to control her body. She looked as ridiculous as a child who was just learning to walk.
But Zong Yanli had no intention of giving up. He pursed his lips seriously, calmed down and tried to adapt.
I thought it would be a difficult task, but I didn't expect that Zong Yanli could walk balanced on the ice in just a quarter of an hour, and put all his strength into his feet under control.
Such heavy iron shoes seemed to have no weight at all on Zong Yanli's feet.
From the initial crookedness, to gradually finding the right sense of balance, and finally to watching Zong Yanli walking freely on the ice, with steady steps and each step controlled with extreme precision.
"We need to make some adjustments." After trying it out for a while, Zong Yanli quickly came back and told Pei Liang what adjustments he thought needed to be made. After asking Pei Liang to write them down, he said, "The center of the shoe is above the feet. If you use too much force, it will be easy to embed too deep, and it will be difficult to lift your feet."
"Let two more people try." After taking off his iron shoes, Zong Yanli called two more people to continue trying.
After another whole day, different people tried it out, and Zong Yanli made further adjustments to the iron shoes based on their experience feedback.
After all, the original purpose of these iron shoes was to allow the people who were pulling ice to walk. Iron shoes are easier to use, but for the soldiers, they just need to walk steadily on the ice. In fact, it might be possible to try using wooden boards with nails on them.
Zong Yanli tried day and night and trained the war horses, and the horses adapted even more harmoniously than they did.
Finally, after many experiments, Zong Yanli asked someone to find a blacksmith to make a large number of them.
"We can't equip the entire army with them due to the lack of numbers." Zong Yanli was aware of his own financial resources. If we could equip one-third of our soldiers with them, it would be considered a victory.
"But it's enough." With this thing, if we can really walk through Qiu Dingjiang and launch a surprise attack on Taoyang City, it will definitely be the key to victory.
"Once this batch of ironware is ready, we will select some people to go to the ice lake for training first." Zong Yanli looked up at Long Feiguang and said, "For the selection of this batch of soldiers, do you have any recommendations?"
As Zong Yanli asked this question, everyone in the tent began to discuss it.
The fourteenth day of winter month.
Zong Yanli led the army to break camp again and attack Taoyang City.
When they met the Qi army outside the city of Taoyang, the two sides engaged in an extremely fierce battle. The bright red blood dyed the white snow red, and the fighting never stopped for a long time on such a snowy night.
The people of Qi had not encountered a war in winter for a long time. Now, looking at the burning wolf smoke and listening to the approaching horn, they couldn't help but feel panic and fear in their hearts. The women sitting around the boiler hugged their children tightly, their hearts full of worry.
The State of Qi had been strong for so many years and had never seen any invaders.
Now, it seems that there is suddenly a sense of precariousness, and the people are naturally panicked.
"How come Daqian's troops can fight in the snow as if they were walking on flat ground?!" Qiu Wu fought against Zong Yanli for the first time. He thought that such an unexpected battle would definitely be an advantage for Daqian, an army that came entirely from the south.
However, they did not expect that the situation was far beyond their expectations. The southern army, which was not adapted to the north, now seemed to be much braver than them, the native northern soldiers!
Qiu Wu was greatly surprised to see that Min Wenshan had no problems in commanding the battle and had controlled the advance and retreat properly.
But it seemed as if Zong Yanli had seen through Min Wenshan's tactics and predicted Min Wenshan's orders at every step, so that the Qi army didn't gain any benefit at all. They had just left the gate of Taoyang City when they were beaten back in a few moves!
What a shame!
"Is there some god who can predict the future in Zong Yanli's army?!" Not to mention Qiu Wu, even Min Wenshan was so angry that he vomited blood. It had been such a short time since they last met, but he actually felt that Zong Yanli's deployment of the overall military formation had become even more powerful, as if he was targeting him everywhere!
"Counting from now on, it has only been a year since Zong Yanli entered the Northland?" Min Wenshan was shocked when he said this. It was only a year.
In just one year, he had been defeated by Zong Yanli, and now he even felt panic-stricken that he could not defeat the enemy at all.
Qiu Wu turned around on the spot, looked at Min Wenshan anxiously and said: "In the face of national crisis, let's put aside the grudge between you and me. Tell me honestly, what exactly is Zong Yanli's way, don't hide it anymore!"
Qiu Wu stared, as if he thought that Min Wenshan might have deliberately not explained himself clearly, which led to this situation.
Min Wenshan couldn't help but complain when he heard Qiu Wu's words: "After all, I've only fought Zong Yanli a few times!? I...I've already told him everything I know!"
Qiu Wu's eyes turned red with anger. He glared at Min Wenshen and said, "It has come to this point, and you are still on guard against me?"
"Will you be satisfied only if you watch with your own eyes the destruction of Taoyang City and the enemy army fighting their way to Baishui Pass?!" Qiu Wu obviously did not trust Min Wenshan. This old fox liked to hide everything he did.
"You..." Min Wenshan gritted his teeth and said angrily: "I really have told you everything I know!"
"How could that be..." Qiu Wu raised his eyes to look at Min Wenshan, his tone suddenly paused and he frowned and stared at him and said, "Could it be that your escaped general defected to Zong Yanli?"
Min Wenshan was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and the first person he thought of was Quan Liangpeng. It was heard that Lang Weiye had been killed by Zong Yanli, but Quan Liangpeng was still missing and no news had been heard.
He thought deeply for a moment and frowned, saying, "Quan Liangpeng...is not easy to be persuaded. Even if he is no longer willing to be loyal to me, he cannot go to Zong Yanli. It is unlikely."
Min Wenshan shook his head and rejected Qiu Wu's words. Qiu Wu asked again, "Why is that? Zong Yanli is so familiar with your strategic deployment. It is obvious that there is a master who is secretly guiding you. The one who is so familiar with you must be a general."
"You don't really think there are gods in this world, do you?" Qiu Wu was so angry that he almost laughed. He was even more annoyed by Min Wenshan's ignorance of anything.
"How could anyone know my strategy..." Min Wenshan was about to retort, but when the words came out of his mouth, he suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and he stopped talking, his eyes widened, and he suddenly clenched his fists.
Qiu Wu also became nervous when he saw Min Wenshan's expression: "You thought of it? Who is it?"
Min Wenshan's expression changed a lot, and he didn't say anything for a long time. It was not until Qiu Wu couldn't help but reach out and shake him that he heard Min Wenshan say, "...It's her, it must be her!"
Qiu Wu listened to Min Wenshan's gnashing of teeth and frowned, asking, "Who?"
"Yingli, a woman." Min Wenshan seemed to find it difficult to speak and felt extremely depressed.
"Woman?" Qiu Wu was stunned at first, then he was angry and confused. He glared at Min Wenshan and asked, "You actually brought a woman into the military camp?"
"She is not an ordinary woman." Min Wenshan frowned, feeling a little embarrassed. Although he said so, it was also a fact that he brought a woman into the army to be intimate with her. Seeing Qiu Wu's expression, Min Wenshan had to explain Yingli to Qiu Wu from the beginning.
"She used to have a name..." Min Wenshan frowned and said, "I can't remember what it was, her nickname was Mingxi."
"Although she is a woman, she is exceptionally intelligent and has unique insights into military strategy."
"He was also my confidant back then."
As Min Wenshan spoke, he could not help but recall the scene when he first met Ms. Mingxi. At that time, Min Wenshan was indeed impressed by her literary talent and knowledge. He could hardly imagine that Ms. Mingxi, a woman, could have such knowledge.
Min Wenshan had a complicated expression, and he said with regret: "But she is a woman after all, how can I reuse her?"
"So in the end you took her into your room?" Qiu Wu didn't think Min Wenshan did anything wrong. He just thought Min Wenshan was really stupid. He got a woman like this but didn't know how to make good use of her. He actually treated her as a concubine to warm his bed?
"So the fall of Jifeng City was not someone else's fault, but it was because of the fire in your backyard?" The look in Qiu Wu's eyes when he looked at Min Wenshan was really indescribable, and he sighed with a very complicated feeling.
"I never thought it would be like this..." Min Wenshan wanted to defend himself. What was there to take seriously about a woman?