Chapter 702: Marching late at night and getting in place!

Chapter 702: Marching late at night and getting in place!

For the Southern Border Army, marching at night has long been an important part of their regular military training curriculum. Gao Yao took great pains to allow the soldiers to march smoothly at night.

First, he focused on the balanced nutrition of the soldiers, ensuring that except for very special circumstances, the soldiers would not suffer from night blindness and other problems due to lack of certain nutrients. This not only requires a reasonable diet, but also health education for the soldiers to let them understand the importance of nutrition to the body.

Secondly, lighting is also a key issue. Although electric lights could not be manufactured at that time, oil lamps and glass could be obtained through certain technological means. Southern Territory already had a fairly mature technical level in glass manufacturing. Although it did not meet modern standards, it was able to reach the level of glass in the Song Dynasty or even the Ming Dynasty, which was very advanced at the time.

In addition, this place is close to the sea, and there are a variety of seafood. Some of the fish fat can be used as lamp oil, and its efficiency is very high. The most famous is the fat in the whale's brain. One kilogram of this fish fat can continue to burn for up to 150 hours! Of course, other parts of the fish fat can also be used as substitutes.

Gao Yao suddenly had an idea and simply designed a portable glass lamp. The interior of this lamp has been specially reinforced to ensure that the light can still burn stably and will not go out easily during the rapid march. The exterior of the lamp uses glass as a lampshade on all four sides. Through this unique design, the effect of reverse light suppression can be achieved.

In simple terms, this lamp can provide a certain degree of simple lighting in the dark night, but it will not be too conspicuous to avoid attracting unnecessary attention. The principle used here is actually the most basic principle of light refraction.

As time went by, the sky gradually turned pale, and dawn was about to come. At this time, Wu She led his 20,000 troops and successfully passed the location of Wu Rui's troops. The distance between them was only six or seven miles away.

After all, they were marching in the dark, so their speed would inevitably be affected and slowed down, and they had to be vigilant at all times to avoid being discovered by the enemy, facing many dangers. However, it was already quite difficult to maintain such a speed. As time passed, the sky gradually brightened, and Wu She made a prompt decision and immediately ordered the troops to rest for two hours.

This was because they had been defending the city during the day, breaking out at night, and then conducting a series of operations such as flanking and interspersing, which had already consumed a lot of physical strength and energy. Therefore, the soldiers urgently needed to rest and replenish their energy to restore their physical strength and mental state.

At the same time, the two hours of rest were also to conserve their energy and prepare for the subsequent surprise attack on the ferry. The ferry was the key target of this battle. Once successfully captured, it would bring huge advantages to the subsequent battles.

After a short two-hour rest, Wu She led his troops to march quickly towards the ferry without hesitation. He did not hesitate at all, because he knew that victory in this battle was crucial to the entire war situation.

At this moment, a fierce battle was going on in Hanzhong, and Langya was also in the midst of war. Although the battle here was not originally planned, it was undoubtedly a rare opportunity for Wu She.

After all, this kind of emergency situation is completely beyond the scope of the original layout. If the expected results can be successfully achieved, even if Wu Rui suffers losses, then Wu She's contribution in this battle will be extremely huge. Faced with such an attractive prospect, how can Wu She not be extremely excited?

He was a surrendered general, and it was only because of Gao Yao's appreciation and respect that he was able to hold his current position. However, in the army, despite his high position, he did not receive much real respect. Wu She did not want to show something, otherwise he would not have gladly accepted the difficult task of being an envoy to Wu Rui.

This mission did have merit, and it was quite a lot. But the problem was that it was not an absolute, irreplaceable, hard merit. In other words, the same thing was not only possible for Wu She, but other generals were also fully capable of doing it. Although the merit brought by the mission and the value of delaying time existed, there was still a certain gap compared to the glorious military exploits of defeating the enemy in a direct battle.

But if this battle is successful, Wu Rui can be trapped in Jiujiang area for a short time. With the cooperation of his own troops on the river, Wu Rui, without food supplies, is almost like a toothless tiger. He can only think of a way to retreat to his own territory. At this time, the offensive and defensive situation will change immediately. As long as Wu Rui's retreat is delayed, it will be enough to make Wu Rui exhausted.

Time passed by, the sun gradually rose in the sky, and it was close to noon. Wu She led his troops, like a raging torrent, and quickly approached the ferry. Standing on a high place, he looked far away and could even vaguely see the general outline of the ferry.

Wu She knew the importance and complexity of this battle, so before the battle, he specially summoned all the soldiers and explained the strategic goals of this battle in detail. He shouted loudly: "All soldiers, listen up! This battle is not to annihilate the enemy, but to destroy the ferry! Once you win, retreat immediately and disperse your actions without any hesitation!"

"Yes!" The soldiers responded in unison, their voices echoing in the valley, their momentum as strong as a rainbow.

Then, Wu She arranged the details of the battle in an orderly manner. He ordered the cavalry to be divided into two teams, and to quickly approach the ferry from both sides to attract the enemy's attention. However, the cavalry's task was not to attack the fortress directly, but to make a feint attack to create momentum and make the enemy mistakenly believe that they were the main attacking force.

The real main attacking force was the infantry. Wu She knew that it would not work if he just rushed forward all at once, because Wu Rui was not a stupid person. He knew the importance of the ferry, so he deliberately left 20,000 troops to garrison. Therefore, Wu She carefully planned the infantry's offensive strategy. He divided the infantry into several teams and launched attacks from different directions at the same time, making it difficult for the enemy to concentrate on defense.

It is also remarkable that Wu Rui has come this far. He naturally knows the importance of the ferry to him, otherwise he would not have sent 20,000 troops to garrison the ferry. This is enough to show how much he values ​​the ferry.