Chapter 2 second quarter

On the 11th day of December in the fifth year of Emperor Yincheng, the north of Jinbei Kingdom was near the sea, and Beigu Mountain City. This is a port, but also a snow city. Every year, the first snow in Lanzhou falls on Beigu Mountain City.To the north of Beigu Mountain City is the Yuyuan Strait that separates Ningzhou and Lanzhou. The icy current from the outer sea passes here day and night, and pours into the vast Weihai Sea. Like gold.It is also this bad weather that protects this small and remote city. Looking north from here, one hundred and twenty miles north is Ningzhou, which belongs to Yuren. ".The narrowest part of the Yuyuan Strait is even narrower than the Tiantuo Strait, and the dynasty of the Eastern Land has relied on these two straits to defend their borders for thousands of years.

Compared with Tiantuo Strait, Yuyuan Strait is calmer.Even though it is narrower, the icy current passes by at high speed and never stops.Only Yuren's Mulan Longboat can sail in this area, but even with Mulan Longship and Yuren's natural ability to control the wind, sailing on Yuyuan Strait is still a tense thing. It may be dragged to the bottom of the sea by the vortex formed by the current, or it may be blown into a nearby cliff in a storm and become a pile of debris floating on the sea.The Donglu people said that this strait was split by the gods to protect the Donglu, and it was as insurmountable as the heavenly abyss to the Yuren, so it was named "Yuyuan Strait".

But the defense never let up. The founding emperor Bai Yin sealed an earl in Beigu Mountain City, called Beigu Mountain Bo.This military family has guarded this small city for generations, and under the jurisdiction of the Marquis of Jin, they enjoy the privilege of collecting taxes in this fishing port city.No matter whether you go east or west from this small town, within hundreds of miles there are steep cliffs facing the sea with rolling white waves.However, Beigu Mountain City is located in a gap in the cliff terrain. This is a natural good harbor. There is a piece of still water in the middle of the promontory extending from both sides. People can even fish in the offshore.Bai Yin once climbed to the high place of this city and looked at it for a long time, and said that in the future, the attack of the Yuren must start from here.So he set up a fire tripod on the highest point of Beigu Mountain City. If one day this fire tripod is lit, it means that the Yuren have captured Beigu Mountain City.The 600-mile-long beacon continued to spread until Qiuye Mountain City in northern Shanxi. The Marquis of Jin would call the police to the imperial capital and fight with soldiers from all over the country.

When Gu Yueyi arrived at Beigu Mountain City with 2,500 Izumo riders, it was a cloudy day after the rain. The cavalry archer came galloping through the mud, all white horses in white clothes.Each of these young warriors was dressed in light clothes, with only a horn bow, not even a waist knife. The leader warrior seemed to be in his early twenties. Like a general's weapon. The cavalry and archers quickly formed a team in front of the city gate, and the leading warrior handed over a letter from the Marquis of Jin. "General Gu Yueyi of the Izumo Cavalry Army?" Beigu Shanbo didn't quite believe that the envoy from the Marquis of Jin from Akiba Mountain City was so young.

"Gu Yueyi, Deputy Commander of the Izumo Cavalry Army in the Northern Kingdom of Jin, pay homage to Beigu Shanbo." Gu Yueyi dismounted from his horse and approached to salute. "Unexpectedly, so young and promising, so many distinguished guests from Akiba Mountain City suddenly came to our remote place, which made people panic. I received a letter from the Marquis of Jin and hurriedly asked my subordinates to arrange private houses for the general's subordinates to live in. The general knows that there are not tens of thousands of people in our small town, and there is no barracks for thousands of people at a time." Beigu Shanbo rubbed his hands, smiled flatteringly, and asked questions in a roundabout way. "Usually the Marquis of Jin sends people to inspect the defense, there are only a few dozen people..."

"This is not a normal time." Gu Yueyi said lightly. "Yes, Lord Marquis of Jin is strategizing." Beigu Shanbo didn't dare to say anything, "The general has so many subordinates that he can't arrange a banquet for thousands of people, so we have to prepare water for the soldiers of the Izumo cavalry. The humble house has a separate table of seafood for adults. We don’t produce anything else here, but the fish we produce are the best in Lanzhou, and all we catch are big deep-sea fish. The last time I took people out to sea, I caught the Dragon King spotted fin , is so big..."

Gu Yueyi saw that he opened his arms, out of thin air he drew a precious sea fish two feet long, his eyes widened with a seductive expression, like a peddler in a fish market tempting customers to buy his own fish, he couldn't help but smile slightly.There has been no war between Donglu and the Yu clan for seven hundred years. This period of peace is enough for the descendants of the earl family to forget the sharp arrows of the Yuren that can pierce through solid armor, and become an ordinary country nobleman. "Thanks to Beigu Shanbo's kindness, I must try such a big dragon king's spotted fin. But I came this time mainly to see if the Yu tribe intends to cross the sea to attack. The king is very concerned about this matter. Beigu Mountain Can Uncle take me to the beach?" Gu Yueyi said.

Beigu Shanbo was stunned for a moment, and then showed a little disdain.He knew that this was Gu Yueyi's intention, and he was relieved.He originally thought that the Marquis of Jin had come to Xingshi to question him, blaming him for the stale fish that he sent to Qiuye Mountain City last month.Last month, the tide was so strong that the fishermen in the city were afraid to go out to sea, so Beigu Shanbo could only secretly bury dead fish in the ice to make up for it. "You don't have to worry about the ancient general," Beigu Shanbo said about defense, but he seemed confident, "This city is as solid as a rock, and the Yuyuan Strait outside is a natural danger, and my family has guarded it for generations. This seaport is all in my eyes, and I know the terrain like the palm of my hand. Feather people dare to cross the sea, and the current does not want their lives, but I want theirs too."

"This is the best way, then show me and let me rest assured." Gu Yueyi said with a smile. "Okay, the ancient general Jinbei famous general, came to our small place, it is reasonable to see the sea first, and then eat." Beigu Shanbo gestured courteously, "Please." There is a small hill in the middle of Beigu Mountain City, and a fortified fortress on the top of the hill overlooks the whole city.When Bai Yin ordered the construction of this castle, there were no fishermen living nearby. Inside the fort were elite warriors who were good at naval battles and were equipped with bows and crossbows.At that time, this fortress was Beigu Mountain City, standing alone in front of the bay, covered with the northern wind and snow, like a silent giant.

Gu Yueyi climbed to the highest point of the fortress, and the first thing he saw was the heavy bronze tripod weighing thousands of catties.According to Bai Yin's order, this tripod was cast in Qiuye Mountain City, and it was transported to Beigu Mountain City by a team of forty poor horses. It was placed here and has not been touched for seven hundred years.No matter the rain or snow, there is always a pile of coke soaked in kerosene inside. When these charcoals burn, they will release billowing thick smoke, like a volcanic eruption, which can be seen clearly from several miles away. The cauldron was three feet higher than Gu Yueyi, and a ladder was needed to climb it.Gu Yueyi saw a shallow layer of water soaking inside, and the coke soaked in kerosene was piled in the water.

"It's been raining for the past few days," Beigu Shanbo explained with a smile, "some water has accumulated, and the soldiers probably forgot to pull out the cork that drains water from below. But it's okay, the charcoal is soaked in oil, even if Even if there is water, you can light it. But you have to worry about fire prevention, and it’s not good to misrepresent the news.” Gu Yueyi nodded silently. Beigu Shanbo patted the tripod: "This big guy is an antique. It is pure bronze and weighs several thousand catties. A dozen or so big men can't lift it up. Look, General Gu, there are poems written by Emperor Qiangwei on it... " Gu Yueyi nodded slightly, walked down the wooden ladder, turned around and looked at the sea one mile away.It was a calm day, and there was a busy scene of fishing boats on the open sea.In a few days, the coastal waters may be frozen. Although there is only a thin layer of ice, no one can leave, but the fishing boats will also be unable to go out to sea. The fishermen are seizing the last chance to save some fishing goods for the New Year. "This piece of sea is rich. It produces half of the fish in northern Shanxi. The place is not poor, but it's too remote. Women from other places don't want to marry here, and young men from the same place always want to venture out." Beigu Shanbo Looking at the sea, it is like a vegetable farmer looking at his vegetable field, full of emotion, "When I was young, I also wanted to go to the Marquis of Jin to serve as an official, to be a warrior, and to be a glorious man. At that time, I admired handsome people like generals the most. But now that I’m old, I can’t live without this sea. One night I don’t have fresh fish soup, and my heart feels like a cat scratching. In fact, when I was young, I couldn’t even draw a fifty-jin bow. Ah, make your own mistakes. People are born with different lives, and I have been a fisherman in my life." Gu Yueyi smiled when he heard this: "Beigu Shanbo's family has been a military member for generations, and His Majesty in Tianqi City still thinks that the Lord will guard Yuyuan Strait for him." "Hey!" Beigu Shanbo waved his hand, "It seems that our small place is so important. Brother, look at this city, it is actually a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the feathered people can't beat it at all!" He felt that this young general was very kind and kind, and he didn't act like a special envoy of the Marquis of Jin. He was close in his heart, so he couldn't help but changed his address to "brother". "I need to ask Beigu Shanbo about this." Gu Yueyi said respectfully, like a student asking a teacher for advice. Beigu Shanbo felt that his face was bright, and he filled his stomach with fish soup: "To enter this seaport, you have to cross Yuyuan Strait first. I won't tell you how high the waves are and how fast the current is in Yuyuan Strait. Brother, you also know. Even if Yuren can cross the sea, we only need to block ten fishing boats at the entrance of the harbor, pour kerosene and fill them with firewood. The fire, it was burning. Even if the fire attack didn’t work, it’s still fine. The sea is not deep, and there are two hundred wave-breaking cones in the ground, which were buried by Emperor Qiangwei and made by Heluo craftsmen. The iron used is called Crystal Essence, which has been stainless for hundreds of years. Only our locals know where the wave cones are. I didn’t sink them all to the bottom of the sea, and the feathered ones had to go ashore too, once they got ashore, their ability in the water was nothing, my city wall is thick and thick, ten thousand crossbows are firing, hehe!” "Thousands of crossbows at once?" Gu Yueyi looked around, only some sergeants were lazily walking around, not carrying bows and arrows, but carrying old-fashioned sabers, "I don't know how many shooters there are here?" Beigu Shanbo was stunned, and scratched his head: "This... I'm not going to hide it from you, brother, and Lord Jinhou also knows that we haven't fought wars here for hundreds of years, and those who have military status have changed their careers to become fishermen. Now You can’t even call people for military training. And look at the sea, you need to practice naval warfare, it’s not wide enough, you need to practice bows and arrows... It’s useless to practice, shooting seabirds? It’s better to go fishing.” Gu Yueyi knew that he couldn't make sense with this Earl who regarded himself as a fisherman, so he could only smile. "General, is something wrong over there?" A lieutenant following Gu Yueyi pointed to the sea and said. Looking around, Gu Yueyi saw dozens of fishing boats near the sea raised their sails and gathered in the middle of the harbor. There were two fishing boats with their bows facing each other. "Hey, it's the Sima family and the Chen family's two dogs!" Beigu Shanbo understood at a glance. "The Sima family and the Chen family?" Gu Yueyi asked. "Our two big families here each have a hundred or ten fishing boats. At that time, Emperor Qiangwei sent a total of four surnames to garrison here. Now that the Sima family and the Chen family are stronger, there are not many people in the other two families. Both of these two families are from the military, and they are very irritable. They always hang up my fishing nets for you, and I occupy the place where you lowered the nets to make trouble. There was a fight inside, but I didn’t admit it when I asked, I didn’t see it with my own eyes, so I don’t care too much about it. But I said that today the special envoy of the Marquis of Jin came to inspect Haiphong, these bastards!” Beigu Shanbo punched Hit it in the palm of your hand. Sure enough, all the fishing boats gathered together raised their sails, completely covering the two boats in the middle.The fishermen yelled loudly, as if to cheer for the fighters inside. Dozens of fishing boats may add up to thousands of fishermen, and it is true that Beigu Shanbo can't control the troubles. "General Gu! There's a fire over there!" the deputy general said suddenly. Gu Yueyi looked up, and in the center of the group of fishing boats was a sail engulfed in flames.The fishermen were still yelling loudly, and the yelling was full of panic. The fishing boats were so tightly surrounded that they couldn't disperse for a while, and the fire would soon spread to the surrounding boats.The ship in the middle burned extremely fast, and was completely surrounded by flames in an instant, like a piece of wood soaked in kerosene.The flames spread rapidly towards other ships, and the wind actually picked up at this time, which helped the fire to be unstoppable. "Why...how did this happen?" Beigu Shanbo's eyes widened in shock, at a loss. "A ship, even if it catches fire, shouldn't burn so fast?" Gu Yueyi whispered, "Unless someone deliberately set it on fire." "Who? Who dares to set fire to ships in Beigu Mountain City? Those are military ships!" Beigu Shanbo was furious. Most of the fishermen here in Beigu Mountain City use military boats to fish. These military boats disguised as fishing boats are made of high-quality wood.There is an opening for archery on the side of the boat. Weapons, ropes, iron hooks and other things are kept in the boat all the year round. There are dozens of fishermen on a boat. Armored, no mess at all. "My... my lord!" The sergeant standing on the high ground and watching suddenly shouted, his voice was distorted, and he pointed at the end of the sea and sky tremblingly. Gu Yueyi's whole body trembled, and when he looked around, he saw huge sails rising slowly on the sea surface, not one, but dozens of them, lined up neatly.These huge ships were driven by waves as tall as a man, and they headed straight towards Beigu Mountain City at high speed. The current and wind direction were extremely favorable for those ships, just like a war horse rushing down a high slope, it was unstoppable.Gu Yueyi has no experience in naval battles, but he knows how to distinguish the size of objects at an extremely long distance. At this distance, the patterns on the sails are still clearly visible, so those ships are three-masted giants that can hold hundreds of people. ship. That is Yuren's most proud warship - Mulan longship! Gu Yueyi glanced at Beigu Shanbo next to him. The earl was so frightened that his legs trembled, as if his soul had been taken away, his face was pale and he couldn't speak. "There are thousands of people on those fishing boats that are on fire, all of them are soldiers under your command, aren't they?" Gu Yueyi asked. Beigu Shanbo nodded blankly. "So how many people and ships do you have left?" Beigu Shanbo shook his head blankly. Gu Yueyi knew that he had nothing to ask, and asking a fisherman what to do at this time was just a waste of time. "Since the other side knows to use fire attack to open the way into the port, then the location of the wave breaking cone must also be known. These immovable things have been standing there for seven hundred years. The pattern on the sail is green wings, which belong to the feather clan. The crest of the Stark family of the Yi family. Those are warships with cannons placed on the bow, and they are here to attack." Gu Yueyi whispered, and turned to look at his lieutenant general, "Order, all bows and arrows and Horses, get ready to go." "It's exactly the same as Junhou's information." The deputy general took a deep breath. "Should we be thankful that Junhou's information is too accurate, or should we worry about ourselves? Next we will face the feathered people who are born proud of bows and arrows." Gu Yueyi said lightly, patted Beigu Shanbo Shoulder, "My lord, stay by the fire cauldron, I'm afraid you are about to prepare the fire." He raised his head and said to the sergeant in charge of watching from above: "Blow the horn, the feathered men are coming!" The ancient bronze horn blew again, roaring across the sky and the earth, the burning sails in the port burned the water surface red, and the Izumo cavalry who hadn't recuperated and rested remounted their horses.The fortress woke up with the sound of the trumpet, and seven hundred years later, it changed from a small fisherman's town to a forward position of humans and Yuzu again.