Realm of Power

"Your Majesty, there seems to be something wrong with the river water this afternoon! It feels a little less than it was in the morning!"

Salon came from outside wearing this black general armor. His riding boots stained with mud from the riverside rubbed against the red carpet at the entrance of the military tent. He was trying to scrape off the mud on it, and there was a heavy shadow. It hit him, and a document rolled and fell at his feet.

"Asshole, that's a handmade goose down carpet." The fat man's slightly angry voice came from the military tent. "If I remember correctly, this is the third goose down carpet that you have soiled. You came here three times in the morning, and every time That’s the case. Do you know the value of these carpets? Each one is worth more than a thousand gold, and I will include it in your military expenses this time!”

"No, Your Majesty, you know that I am the poorest among the other legions. Three thousand gold is deducted at once, which is a reward for a squadron!" Hearing that this carpet was worth a thousand gold, Salon was frightened and quickly moved his feet. Boots, facing the soil beneath my feet The red carpet looked at it carefully again, and Dulu said, "That's not right, Your Majesty. I remember that such carpets are not military equipment and are used to pave tents. The value of each strip is only ten silver coins! Could it be that the ones used by Your Majesty are different from those used by others?" ? I can’t see it!”

"Put it in my military tent, and it's worth a thousand pieces of gold." The fat man watched as the carpet he had just put on turned into a mud carpet under the feet of Salon, the prodigal son, and he let out a heavy groan of dissatisfaction. "If you have any objections, , you can appeal to the higher authorities!”

"Report to the superior? How is that possible!" Salon subconsciously stuck out his tongue, joking, isn't his superior the Falcon himself? Let yourself state to your superiors that this rogue style is indeed worthy of His Majesty Falcon.

"Since you have no objection, why are you still standing there and looking at it!" The fat man dropped the pen in his hand, rolled up the map on the table, and rolled his eyes at Salon, who looked miserable. He said, "Bring me the documents on the floor! That's your request for an increase in military spending. If you don't want it, I don't care. Just take it to shine your shoes. I'll give this to you for free! Don't think I don't know you." Who can write this? Who else can write this kind of argumentative style but Duo Choi! I haven’t seen you for a while, you have made progress, and you have a good relationship with the military and political officials in the northwest!"

"Don't, don't be like this, Your Majesty! Didn't I follow Your Majesty's order to learn some government affairs from Duo Zedao?" Salon defended in a panic. He picked up the report on the ground regardless of his demeanor, walked over, and put his hands respectfully on the fat man's desk.

The two guards standing at the door of the tent raised their heads in unison. The deep affection in the monograph was like enjoying the beautiful moonlight with a lover in broad daylight. No matter how prestigious the commanders of the five armies were, just stamping their feet outside could make the emperor enter the world. After shaking, in front of His Majesty Falcon, he was like a mouse meeting a cat, not even daring to breathe.

"Tell me, what did you find that made you so excited? It's like you were given a shot of chicken blood!"

The fat man suppressed the report. His eyes flashed across Salon's face like lightning, and he said slowly, "The Gallic army has been arriving at the Sone River for two days. The first troops to arrive were 70,000 people, followed by the main force of 110,000 people. In addition to the troops on the first day, After a fierce attack on the upper reaches, the opponent launched several probing attacks against the river on the second day, but made little progress. Instead, they lost more than 3,000 people. It is now the third day, and the opponent has not made any moves all morning. I have other ideas!”

"It's nothing. I just feel that the water on the river is not as fast as before!" Salon's face flashed with a hint of surprise, and he said nonchalantly, "I checked the upper and middle reaches, and it is strange to say that the river in the upper reaches The water flow does not change much in this section, but as the river becomes wider and wider, and the water enters the relatively wide middle reaches of the river, the river water has dropped a lot, and the depth is obviously insufficient. Sections that were difficult to swim in the past can now be barely crossed by riding a war horse."'

"You mean, the water in the river has become less for some unknown reason?" The fat man's face suddenly became solemn, and he suddenly stood up, interrupting Salon's report.

"Yes, that's probably what it means!" Salon was startled by the fat man's move. He didn't know why it caused such a strong reaction from His Majesty Falcon, but he still nodded affirmatively. "Although it seemed a little incredible, it was true." I had this feeling. I didn’t feel it when I set out in the morning, but when I returned in the afternoon, I could clearly feel that something was wrong! “

"Interesting! Nothing in this world is impossible. The other party didn't swim downstream, so he obviously had his own plan! I was also guessing, but now the answer is obvious." The fat man's eyes were deep, as if he thought of something, and he touched it with his hand. Touching his chin, "It seems that we have encountered a very thoughtful opponent. The river water cannot change so much in a few days, unless the opponent cuts off the tributaries to reduce the inflow of river water, so that the subsequent large army can force the crossing on foot!"

"No way, how is this possible!" Salon blinked, with a look of disbelief on his face. It is really unbelievable that the water volume of a river with abundant water flow dropped to a depth that can be swam on foot in a few days. ,

"Don't forget, this is the dry season for the Sona River!" The fat man spread out the map of the Sona River on the table and clicked on the map with his finger. "It can be seen from the map that the east-west flow direction of the Sona River is The middle section of the main river leads to four tributaries in the southern part of the map. During the dry season, most of the water flow in the Sona River comes from the tributaries, and there is not much flow in the main stream."

"If these tributaries are cut off, I can say that the water flow will be reduced by half in a few days, and the other party obviously sees this."

The fat man's finger pointed hard at the downstream section of the map. "If the entire Sona River can be compared to a plank that bears pressure, the gentle zone downstream is undoubtedly the weakest part of the plank! The middle stream has become gentle. , it will become gentler downstream,

"As long as the water flow decreases to a certain level, all the shoals in the river downstream will rise to the surface. The opponent should be waiting for this. At that time, the opponent will only need to take advantage of the infantry group to forcefully cross the river along the shoals.

"Although our army has deployed 40,000 troops downstream, it is a river that is 5 miles long. If 40,000 people are spread out on average, it will not be much. However, the opponent has an army of 180,000. Under an all-out attack, as long as there is an opportunity, If we grasp it, we can completely defeat this weak point in the lower reaches in a short period of time before our main reinforcements arrive in the middle reaches!"

"Then what do we do?"

Salon gasped upon hearing this. The imperial general who has experienced hundreds of battles and has seen countless opponents is a little confused this time. Probably only His Majesty Falcon can make such a mind-boggling judgment that is closest to the truth. If it were him, he would probably wait until the end of the river. The whole line collapsed, and I couldn’t figure out how the other party did it!

"Actually, it's not that difficult! If he intercepts the tributary, we'll go upstream to intercept the main stream!" The fat man chuckled. "He wants to cross the river, so we'll help him!"

"What? Cut off the main stream! Help the enemy cross the river? What kind of mess is this?" Salon's one eye was as wide as a copper bell. Shocked, he thought he had heard wrongly and said hesitantly, "Your Majesty, are you sure you want to cut off the main stream? Doesn't this completely deprive the river of water flow?"

"You are right. Cutting off the main stream will make the flow of the river smoother! Let the shoals downstream be exposed in advance." The fat man nodded, and pressed five fingers heavily on the river map on the table, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. Showing strong self-confidence, he said

"This is the battle of the Sona River. We are fighting from the river, while the opponent is marching north to capture the city. Strategically speaking, the defending side seems to have the advantage of the river. But in fact, in order to defend this 50-mile stretch of river, We have 230,000 men, but we must divide our forces to defend them.

"We have lost the strategic initiative, but the opponent can flexibly maneuver and concentrate our forces. We can choose a location and seize our weaknesses at any time to launch an all-out attack. We don't know when the opponent will launch the main attack or where the attack will be. This kind of uncertainty Sexuality is the biggest trouble in our defense. The opponent attacked upstream as soon as they came, probably to confuse us. Now it’s okay, the opponent jumped into the pit, and the location of the attack can be clearly defined as the downstream. As for the time, just look at when You’ll know when alluvial shoals are exposed downstream! “

"That's it, my subordinates will take people upstream now!" Salon showed a look of surprise on his face and was about to turn around when a rumbling sound passed over the tent.

"Is this?" A trace of astonishment flashed across the fat man's face, and he quickly walked to the tent door, raised his head and looked at the sky above his head. The clear sky was covered with dark clouds at some point. Just now, there was a muffled thunder, on the other side of the Sona River. At one end, there is a dark sky, which seems to be a sign before a heavy rain is coming.

"Salon, bring more people and build the barrage as strong as possible." A mysterious sneer appeared on the corner of the fat man's mouth, and he told Salon, "I hope it will be a heavy rain that can wash away everything!"

"Your Majesty, I don't understand!" Salon looked confused. He didn't know why His Majesty Falcon said this.

"Just execute the order!" The fat man didn't want to explain any more, waved his hand to him, and said sternly, "Within five days, if you can't stop the water upstream before receiving the order, no matter what the outcome of this battle, You don’t even need to be the commander of the army!”

"Yes!" Salon shuddered, it was just a joke, but he could feel that His Majesty's words were true!

Late at night, the light rain turned into heavy rain sweeping across the entire area. The large raindrops were blown by the wind, sweeping away like naughty children.

"Boom, boom, boom" muffled thunder sounded in the middle of the low clouds, shaking the ears of the people below. The dazzling blue electric light cut through the black night sky like a wild dance, illuminating Stanley Spencer standing downstream of Sona. A lonely figure beside a river,

In front of him, the torrent was circling, and the water was rushing with a roar. The river that had just dried up had begun to rise, and the shoals that had just emerged in the river were once again submerged by the torrent.

Because we did not expect to encounter heavy rain, the dams blocking several tributaries were broken open, and a dozen soldiers were swept away by the rapids. Their lives and deaths are unknown.

"Sir, the current is too fast and it is impossible to forcibly cross the shoal!"

An officer jumped into the river with a rope tied to his body and tried to pass along the shoal. However, he was knocked around by the rapids and his body hit a rock that emerged. If he had not been tied with a rope, he would have been washed away long ago. He was gone, and the soldiers were pulling him up with force.

"This rain came at the wrong time!"

Stanley Spencer raised his head angrily and looked at the white raindrops flying above his head. His eyebrows were tightly condensed into the shape of a river, and his melancholy eyes were staring at the swollen river like a flame, clenched into a The joints of my boxing hands turned slightly white due to excessive exertion.

Now is the dry season. It is difficult to intercept tributaries and reduce the flow of water. It is difficult to hide from the eyes of discerning people for a long time. We could have crossed the river tonight, but the sudden heavy rain disrupted all plans. had to be postponed, and the danger quickly expanded,

Once the changes in the water flow are noticed by the opponent, your clever layout will turn into a dead end that will cause heavy losses to the army.

Moreover, the number of northwest troops this time was beyond his expectation.

The fifty-mile-long river was actually heavily guarded, and several attempts ended in failure. I thought that the northwest was a piece of loose sand, and as long as the northwest coast was defeated, the overall situation would be decided, but I didn't expect that the northwest would be so united.

"His Majesty the Emperor has underestimated Northwest!"

Stanley Spencer sighed secretly. The momentum of the Gallic army's advance and surprise attack had been curbed so far. The northwest army standing by the river was now like a solid gate, completely blocking the army's forward direction.

"My lord, according to my experience, if the rain comes in time, it should go away quickly!" A middle-aged Gallic general looked up at the sky. He said beside him, "Why don't we take it slow? The night is not conducive to crossing the river. The swollen river water also makes it more difficult to cross the river.

According to the scouts' reports, the other side had increased its troops and built strong fortifications on the river bank. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything clearly if we just hit it like this. The troops crossing the river will only be in crisis! "

"Ssenu. I also want to take a breather, but time waits for no one!"

Stanley Spencer sighed, looked at the general, who had been his partner for many years, and said with an ugly face, "There are still ten days left for the Southwest to promise to provide logistics. If they cannot attack Dahai City within this time, , the army will be at a disadvantage In this situation, this conquest has become an embarrassing joke for His Majesty the Emperor. The 180,000-strong Gallic army has not been able to capture the northwest! How can we talk about opening up the territory for His Majesty the Emperor at the imperial meeting? Tu, we are going to suppress the rebellion!"

"this......"

The Gallic general's face was gloomy, and God's calculations are not as good as those of others. Who would have thought that this rain would come at such an untimely time? If it hadn't been for this rain, by this time tomorrow, the army would have swept across the northwest army on the opposite side, leaving the cavalry to lead the order. Flying towards the Imperial Kyoto with the good news,

"The Third Army is ordered to increase its strength by cutting off the tributaries. Regardless of the losses, the tributary rivers must be blocked after the heavy rain." Stanley Spencer ordered the messenger behind him with a ferocious expression. "As long as the rain slows down, we will take action tomorrow night." Forced crossing!

"Sir, if we do this, our troops will suffer great losses!" Ssenu looked embarrassed.

"Since it is a war, losses are inevitable!"

Scelibense raised his head resolutely and looked deeply at the lights of the Northwest Army camp opposite. "I believe the other party would not have thought that we would attack on a rainy night. In this offensive and defensive battle, we have no chance with the Northwest." It's a matter of life and death! "

Contrary to everyone's expectations, the heavy rain came and went away quickly.

When the sun on the second day showed its face from behind the dark clouds, surprising both sides, it had been pushed to noon on the fourth day of the battle. The river water was rarely clear, without the muddy and rolling sand after the heavy rain. Some people were already wondering. Last night's heavy rain did not cause the river water to surge.

The Duke of Denia personally found the fat man and expressed concern about this abnormal situation. According to the Duke's analysis, this seemed to be a bad omen from heaven for the northwest. He asked the Vecian Falcon to pay more attention. The fat man's face seemed unconcerned. The Gallic army Cut off the tributaries, Salon After cutting off the main stream, there is water. After seeing off the Duke of Denia, the fat man took a trip downstream. The tumbling rapids in the past were no longer visible, only the gentle water sparkling on the river surface, and the green algae. You can see everything clearly and see the bottom clearly!

"Your Majesty, we noticed something moving on the other side last night!"

The person in charge of the defense here is Yagelins. This general who severely damaged the Rode people in the Battle of Yinqueshan has been recognized as a defense expert. Fatty entrusted this important stretch of river to him because he valued his ability to face all kinds of enemies. He can remain calm in all situations. As a general, if he himself is not stable, how can his soldiers be determined to win! He was also awe-struck at the scene in front of him. Although he didn't find anything unusual, the crystal clear river itself was a spectacle.

"Is there a lot of movement?"

The fat man stopped, stood on the edge of the river, tilted his head, and looked towards the river. Under a rock protruding out of the river, a shoal and reef more than ten meters long could be vaguely seen. He didn't know that last night, right across from him , Stanley Spencer once stared at the river in the same way, but at that time the river was not clear, but a torrent.

"It's not very big. It seems to be a floating object in the rapids! But I don't know why, but I always feel that something will happen soon." Yagelins' tone sounded uncertain. It rained heavily last night, and even he didn't think that there would be a situation on the other side. Crossing the river under such circumstances is just based on intuition

"Indeed, you are right! It could be tonight!" The fat man said half-jokingly, looking back from the river. So many people had noticed the abnormality. It was impossible not to seize the time on the other side. The clear river surface proved that The opponent's interception of the tributary was very successful. The next step should be to cross the river! (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!