Chapter 305: The army marches into the pass, advancing by land and sea

“Roar!”……

“Chirp…”

Half an hour later, all the spirit beasts and spirit birds on the scene had completed the breakthrough. They were roaring with joy, venting their excitement.

There was deep gratitude in their eyes when they looked at Li Dingguo.

Even Da Jin, the only one at the scene who had not made a breakthrough, could feel that the blood of the mythical beast Golden-winged Roc in his body had become more than twice as strong.

Da Jin knew that he was not far from breaking through to become a sixth-level spirit beast.

Then he could go find his mortal enemy and take revenge.

On the eve of the encounter with Li Dingguo, it was beaten to a critical moment by the opponent and almost died on the spot.

Fortunately, after meeting Li Dingguo, his fate was completely changed.

Not only did he successfully hatch offspring, but his entire family already possessed the extremely strong bloodline of the Golden-Winged Roc. It is estimated that they will not stop at the sixth-level spiritual beast in the future.

“Brother, I feel like I can no longer suppress my cultivation!”

At this time, Wan’er, who had been playing with the two spirit dogs Dahuang and Xiaohuang for a while, saw that her two good friends had finally broken through the shackles of their bloodlines and became top-grade spirit beasts of the early stage of level five. She was so happy that she suddenly felt the energy of a breakthrough.

“Wan’er, quickly go to the roots of the Five-Colored Sacred Tree to practice seclusion and break through!”

“I will protect you!”

Li Dingguo was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately called out to the girl.

“Oh.”

“I’m going to go into seclusion and break through now.”

Wan’er quickly agreed, and she used her body skills to fly away. After a moment, she arrived at the huge tree root nearby.

She sat cross-legged on the ground with her five hearts facing the sky. After a while, she adjusted her mood, practiced her main technique, the Zhoutian Xingchen Sutra, and entered a state of breakthrough in cultivation.

This time she was able to calm her mind so quickly and enter a state of calmness, in large part because of the help of her natal spiritual root, the golden Bodhi tree.

This very special innate spiritual root just now suddenly sent an inexplicable aura to Wan’er, bringing her a surge in understanding and a peaceful state of mind.

Like Li Dingguo, Wan’er has never received any specific information from her own spiritual root. She has no idea about its true situation, nor does she know what it is called.

But this golden Bodhi tree, like the famous innate enlightenment tree in ancient mythology, was of great help to her who had a wild mind.

Wan’er had just flown away when Da Huang and Xiao Huang looked at each other, then leaped together to within a hundred feet of her and lay on the ground together, seemingly protecting Wan’er.

It has to be said that after these two spirit dogs upgraded their bloodlines and cultivation, their pure affection for Wan’er has become even deeper, which is really enviable.

After about an hour, Wan’er, who was sitting cross-legged beside the huge roots of the Five-Colored Sacred Tree, suddenly felt a surge of energy all over her body, and she successfully broke through the bottleneck of the early stage of level five.

“it is good!”

Li Dingguo, who was standing a hundred feet away to protect Wan’er, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said in secret with great joy.

Nine hours had passed, and it was already the morning of the next day. Wan’er’s breakthrough in this small realm was finally completed.

“Big brother!”

She jumped up from the ground, flashed a few times, and arrived beside Li Dingguo, shouting in great joy, “I have finally become a mid-level fifth-level master!”

“Hehe…According to the intelligence department, Hong Chengchou also broke through to the early stage of level five last year. If he dares to cause trouble for us, I will beat him to a pulp with one blow!”

Since she often heard Li Dingguo mention Hong Chengchou’s power and insidiousness, Wan’er was undoubtedly the Ming general who displeased her the most.

“Wan’er, congratulations.”

At this time, Hongmei, who had heard the news and arrived several hours ago, smiled at Wan’er and said, “Hong Chengchou is a shrewd man, he will not put himself in danger.”

“It’s hard to find an opportunity to beat him.”

“However, once our army enters the pass, it will not be a problem to defeat the elite government troops he leads.”

During the two months of preparation before the Fuxing Army decided to enter the country, the busiest departments were the Military Intelligence Department and the Ministry of the Interior.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is responsible for internal affairs, while the Ministry of Military Intelligence is responsible for external affairs.

Thousands of intelligence personnel who had undergone rigorous training and passed the examination were sent to Qin by Wei Jinfan, where they inquired about every detail and gained a great deal of valuable intelligence.

Although Hong Chengchou had served as the governor of Qin for more than two years, the number of elite officers and soldiers under his command who were capable and dared to fight had not increased much.

Compared to three years ago, his greatest achievement was stabilizing the situation and preventing Qin from completely getting out of control.

His biggest move was to reorganize his own guards.

Hong Chengchou, a man of means and scheming, has built up a personal guard of 30,000 soldiers over the past two years.

Through various means, he raised enough money, food and training resources for the training of this personal guard, making this personal guard an elite force that was no worse than the Cao family army under Cao Wenzhao.

Intelligence shows that the Cao family army led by Cao Wenzhao has expanded to a size of 10,000 combat soldiers, and has even formed a logistics army of 30,000 people.

The personal guard army formed by Hong Chengchou was not led by He Renlong, but by his own personal guard captain Hong Yuanfeng.

He Renlong refused to change his ways despite repeated admonitions and often violated military regulations. He was no longer valued by Hong Chengchou, who sent him to lead the city guards of Chang’an.

This change made by Hong Chengchou was very different from established history.

After hearing the information that He Renlong was marginalized by Hong Chengchou, many core generals of the Renaissance Army, including Hongmei and Wei Jinfan, were shocked.

In the past, He Renlong had always been Hong Chengchou’s most trusted general, but now he has been marginalized. This allowed Hong Chengchou to truly control a powerful force of his own.

One of the three main forces of the official army led by Hong Chengchou three years ago: the You Family Army, was beginning to decline.

Yulin City, the stronghold of the You family army, has suffered from severe drought in the past two years.

During those two years, there was no rain for more than twenty months!

Even the Xiaoli River southwest of Yansui Town is said to have dried up completely!

This was a fatal blow to the You family army, which was based in Yulin City.

Within a radius of three thousand miles centered on Yulin City, more than half of the villages and towns are empty!
The people who could not survive tried every possible means to escape the famine.

Of the tens of millions of refugees relocated by the Fuxing Army in the past two years, at least half came from Yulin Town.

According to rough statistics from the Military Intelligence Department, the total population of Yulin Town, with a jurisdiction area of ​​3,000 miles, has decreased by more than 70% compared to three years ago!
For an important border town, this situation cannot be described as tragic enough.

Even the original 30,000 elite soldiers of the You Family Army were forced to reduce 10,000, leaving only 20,000 elite soldiers, barely able to keep the You Family Army standing.

In the past two years, Cao Wenzhao’s troops have been transferred here and there by imperial decrees as usual, chasing bandits in Qin all day long and having no time to rest.

There is news that he will soon be transferred to Shanxi Province to serve as a general because of his great achievements.

It took more than two years after Wang Jiayin, the chief leader of the rebel forces in the two provinces, was annihilated before the imperial reward arrived. This was enough to show how unpopular Cao Wenzhao was with the imperial court.

In other words, the Cao family army is still led by Cao Wenzhao. If it were Cao Bianjiao, he would have quit long ago.

His uncle and nephew were so capable, and they had an elite cavalry at their disposal. Even if they just lived a carefree life, it would be better than being treated like stray dogs by the court.

Originally, Cao Bianjiao thought his uncle was a smart man, until now he finally figured out that his uncle was a die-hard supporter of the Ming Dynasty, the kind that even nine-headed, level-four iron-armored bulls couldn’t pull back.

This caused Cao Bianjiao, who had been working very hard to suppress the bandits, to start to be perfunctory. There were even reports that he had a conflict with Cao Wenzhao, and that the conflict was irreconcilable.

This was another surprise for Li Dingguo, as it deviated from the established historical trend.

It would be even more outrageous if Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao parted ways soon after.

But this is normal.

As the number one genius of the Ming Dynasty, how strong is Cao Bianjiao’s mental power?

There can’t be any fools who can break through to this level.

This is fundamentally different from the brave but unwise man Cao Bianjiao in the historical world of Li Dingguo’s previous life.

As a genius of his generation, Cao Bianjiao probably could no longer tolerate his blind loyalty to his uncle.

……

February 2, the Dragon raises its head. Today is a beautiful day with a nice breeze and spring scenery.

“Dong dong…”

In front of the military building on the shore of Daling Lake, in the central square with a radius of a thousand feet, the sound of gongs and drums was deafening!

Not only were 200,000 cavalry soldiers of the main legion gathered in this large square, but all 50,000 naval soldiers were also present at the large dock nearby.

In fact, when Li Dingguo led his troops into the pass this time, it was not just the main force of the army here that was moving south.

At the branch base at the source of the Wuding River in the west, 180,000 troops from the two main combat corps and 30,000 naval forces were gathered.

Except for 60,000 new recruits and 10,000 soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who will stay behind to guard the base outside the Great Wall, the remaining combat soldiers will all participate in this large-scale army entry into the Great Wall.

All 30,000 intelligence personnel from the Military Intelligence Department were deployed ten days ago.

Wei Jinfan only left 5,000 soldiers outside the Great Wall to investigate the movements of all parties. The remaining 25,000 soldiers from the Military Intelligence Department were estimated to have arrived at various border areas of the Ming Dynasty by this time.

They will spread to various places in the three northwestern provinces of the Ming Dynasty to collect various intelligence. The most important thing is to monitor the movements of the expected imperial reinforcements.

Li Dingguo would never fight a battle without confidence. Knowing oneself and the enemy is a necessary preliminary work.

In terms of attaching importance to intelligence work, Li Dingguo even did better than Huang Taiji, the leader in this area.

After all, in the entire Later Jin clan, the number of official personnel responsible for intelligence work would definitely not exceed 10,000.

On Li Dingguo’s side, the Fuxing Army outside the Great Wall alone and the external military intelligence personnel had reached 30,000 combat soldiers.

As hundreds of thousands of people watched eagerly, 200,000 marines and 50,000 naval officers and soldiers gathered at Daling Lake at the source of the Jialu River and began to line up quickly and wait for orders as the sound of war drums beat more and more urgently.

Considering that those treasure ships had to transport a large amount of military equipment, food and supplies, this time, in addition to the 50,000 naval soldiers, the 200,000 soldiers of the Marine Corps did not board the ships, but chose to advance both by land and sea.

After the army enters the pass, it will immediately split into two groups. One group will go straight to the important town of Shenmu in the northeast, and the other group will go along the Jialu River inside the pass and go directly to the border between Qin and Jin provinces: Jiazhou.

As long as these two important cities are captured, the Fuxing Army will occupy the entire northwest corner of Qin territory and officially gain a foothold.

As for Yulin City in Yansui Town, the Qinglong Legion led by Cao Yongxiang and the White Tiger Legion led by Tang Guangqiang were responsible for the capture and marching southward along the Wuding River basin.

The capital of Yansui Town is located on the Wuding River, which flows around the city.

The half-crippled You family army is now unable to stop the fierce attack of the Western Army led by Cao Yongxiang, and it is a foregone conclusion that they will be defeated in one battle.

Because the Fuxing Army marched into the pass this time and adopted a surprise attack tactic in the first round of battle, Hong Chengchou, who was far away in Chang’an City, was unable to react at all.

By the time he received the news, Yansui Town had already fallen into the hands of the Fuxing Army, and no matter how angry he was, it would be of no use.

In the large square of the military building, Li Dingguo and a group of core generals stood upright with solemn expressions.

Seeing that the 230,000 soldiers of the Suzaku, Xuanwu, and Qilin armies under the Eastern Army Group, as well as the 20,000 soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion, had all arrived, Li Dingguo raised his right hand, waved it down vigorously, and shouted, “Move on!”

“We are entering the country and returning home!”

His words were brief, but with the help of his strong mental power, they were clearly heard by all the soldiers at the scene.

“Dong dong…”

The sound of war drums, which had just rested for a moment, is beating loudly again!
Amid the rumbling sound of war drums, the commanders of each legion flashed back to the front of their own legion and led their soldiers to start an orderly action.

The 50,000 naval forces of the Xuanwu Legion marched towards the big wharf.

The Qilin Legion and the Suzaku Legion, each with 90,000 soldiers, began to march southward in legion units along the vast grasslands along the river bank.

The 180,000 soldiers of these two legions are all equipped with two spirit beast war horses. The worst grade of spirit beast war horse is also a middle-grade dragon-scale horse.

The firearms battalions of the two legions moved on land with their own legions and did not board the treasure ship.

With enough large carriages and spirit beasts and war horses, whether or not to take a boat actually has little impact on the firearms battalion.

This was also an opportunity that Li Dingguo intended to take to train the joint expedition capabilities of various legions.

In the long years to come, the main combat corps will often adopt this marching mode.

It will be beneficial for the soldiers to train now.

As for the logistics battalions of the two continental corps, each with 30,000 people, they sailed south with the navy’s large fleet.

This time, the naval officers and soldiers entered the pass, in addition to completely opening up the connection between the Jialu River and the Wuding River sections inside and outside the pass, they were mainly responsible for transporting spiritual herbs, supplies and weapons for the army heading south.

As for water battles with the enemy, there will definitely be opportunities, and they will not be few.

But a large-scale water war is impossible.

Qin was originally the province with the fewest treasure ships in the Ming Dynasty, except for Yunnan and Guizhou. It is estimated that the number of treasure ships added together would not exceed 150.

Among these more than one hundred treasure ships, most of them are private fleets. The total number of official treasure ships will not exceed thirty, and most of them are low-quality treasure ships.

This kind of naval strength is no match for the navy of the Restoration Army.

If the two sides collide head-on, the government’s fleet will probably be destroyed in one wave and will not be able to cause much waves.

Starting from the Daling Lake base on the Jialu River, it is about 11,000 miles to the Great Wall at the border.

With the equipment of two horses per person and the speed of travel of the Renaissance Army soldiers, they can arrive in half a month at most.

All the Tatar tribes along the Jialu River, as well as those threatening monster tribes, had long been cleared out by the soldiers of the Restoration Army.

Therefore, the soldiers felt like they were on a picnic during this journey outside the Great Wall.

There were three big golden eagles patrolling back and forth in the sky, and there were also a large number of elite scouts riding on three-tailed iron-backed magic wolves patrolling and on guard near the army. There was no need to worry about encountering any danger.

Li Dingguo and Wan’er, each riding on a top-quality dragon-scale horse, galloped leisurely towards the front.

Wan’er, this girl, refused to go back to Lingshan Island near Jiaozhou Bay and insisted on joining the army in the battle.

Li Dingguo thought about it and agreed.

The naval-based Restoration Army on Lingshan Island will focus on development this year and will not take the initiative to provoke a war.

If nothing unexpected happens, the Later Jin Tartars and other forces will not come to cause trouble this year. It will be a rare year of peace and tranquility for great development.

Even if Wan’er stays here for half a year, it will not affect the development and growth of the Renaissance Army on Lingshan Island.

What’s more, the two Restoration Armies communicated with each other every day by sending messages via spirit pigeons. Especially the intelligence departments of the two places had dozens of spirit pigeons flying back and forth between the two places every day.

Even if they encountered any emergency, with the three golden eagles’ cultivation level of at least mid-level five, they would be able to reach Lingshan Island in Jiaozhou Bay in just a few days.

“Big brother.”

While riding along the large grassland on the river bank, Wan’er said to Li Dingguo beside her, “According to Sister Jin Fan, at the junction of Jialu River and the interior of the pass, there are only two medium-sized water forts located at the gap of the Great Wall, and the defense is mediocre.”

“If nothing unexpected happens, the navy soldiers who arrive first will be able to capture them with a single charge.”

“Since Hong Chengchou was promoted to the governor of Qin, he has tried every possible way to strengthen the defense of various border fortresses. I heard that he also hired several master craftsmen at a high price to repair the defense formations of the border fortresses in various places.”

“That kind of protective formation is comparable to a second-level formation. I can break their defensive light shield in a quarter of an hour at most. It is basically useless.”

Although Wan’er acts careless, she is actually not bragging.

Almost all the fortresses of the Great Wall located on the border of the three northwestern provinces are dilapidated and in disrepair.

Even if Hong Chengchou was willing, how much money and food supplies could he raise?
It is impossible for Hong Chengchou to be so selfless as to spend his family’s personal money to carry out a thorough repair of the Great Wall on the northwestern border.

He is not a saint. At best, he is just a qualified official with ambitions.

The fortress formations at the border that had only been casually repaired could not withstand Wan’er, a mid-level fifth-level expert, who led 20,000 guards to form a military formation and launch several rounds of attacks, and would be broken on the spot.

“good.”

Li Dingguo nodded and agreed, saying, “If nothing unexpected happens, we will have no problem capturing the entire Yansui Town within two or three months.”

“Ha ha……”

He chuckled, “By the time Hong Chengchou and the Ming court realize this, we’ve already gained a foothold inside the Great Wall. No matter how unwilling they are, it’s too late.”

After saying this, he turned his gaze towards the direction of Dingbian City, his eyes were complicated and his spirit was shining. It was unknown what he was thinking…

(End of this chapter)