Chapter 1211: Deployment of Defense in Linhe County and Sneak Attack on Tuan
On the snow, a dog sled can be pulled much faster than a horse.

A dozen pastoral dogs pulled two sleds, on which sat two soldiers and other supplies such as food and fodder.

With a crack of a whip, the sled left two shallow tracks on the cold snow.

Since these were untrained pastoral dogs, Su Mingzhe only let them pull for a quarter of an hour and then let them rest for a while.

This went on for two hours.

In just one morning, the sled had traveled more than forty miles.

By the afternoon.

Everyone worked in perfect harmony, and by the time it got dark, they were nearly a hundred miles away from Xianyang City.

When staying overnight in the official residence, Cao Wushang found Su Mingzhe and said with a worried look on his face:
"Master, aren't we going too fast? At this rate, we may arrive within 20 days!"

"It's a bit fast. I'm still running in today, and I ran nearly 100 miles. I'm afraid I can run 150 or 160 miles every day in the future!"

Su Mingzhe thought for a while before speaking:
"In that case, starting from tomorrow, we will only travel for three hours, about eighty miles, and the rest of the time will be used for training!"

On the second day.

The three thousand dogs, after a night's rest, were full of energy. Before noon, they had already led the team over eighty miles.

The journey is more than 2,000 miles. Su Mingzhe originally estimated that it would take at least until after the Lantern Festival to reach Yunzhong County.

Su Mingzhe had to start reducing his travel time, traveling in the morning and training in the afternoon.

Before the Chinese New Year, Su Mingzhe barely managed to train 500 people.

The dogs brought everyone to the field more than a month in advance.

When the defenders of Yunzhong County saw the reinforcements coming so quickly, their morale was immediately shaken.

Someone quickly notified the guard.

Not long after, the defending general Meng Tian arrived. The first time he saw Su Mingzhe, he felt that this guy was so young and handsome!

After receiving Su Mingzhe's card and transfer order, Meng Tian smiled gently and said:

"You are the one who is trying to arrest Su Song in Pei County? Did you receive the conscription order in Xianyang at the beginning of the month?"

"Exactly!"

Su Mingzhe clasped his fists and gave a formal military salute.

Meng Tian secretly praised again, and then said:

"You arrived more than half the time earlier than expected to help Yunzhong County this time. According to Qin law, you should be awarded a military merit. In addition, your 'dog carts' are good. This general has requisitioned them and will give you another military merit. Now I will promote you to the rank of Fifth Senior Officer and make you the Weiwei of my army. How do you do?"

"Thank you, General!"

Su Mingzhe didn't expect that he was just on the road and even got promoted twice, which was actually easier than fighting a war.

He didn't know.

Recently, due to heavy snow blocking the roads, several counties in Yunzhong County were attacked by Tuan one after another.

As the defending general, Meng Tian was unable to provide timely support even if he received intelligence in time, which resulted in serious losses in various counties in Yunzhong County.

Now, Su Mingzhe actually got hold of some "dog carts". Although there are only 500 of them, they can still be of great help.

After promoting Su Mingzhe, Meng Tian began to officially announce:
"Weiwei Su, the military situation is urgent. I will not keep you here any longer. Next, you will hand over the dog cart and lead the troops to defend Linhe County!"

"Here!"

After Su Mingzhe learned about the location, he immediately received orders and went to the barracks to inspect the troops.

As the Weiwei, plus the title of Wu Dafu, Su Mingzhe can actually command 5,000 people.

But now the war situation is critical and there is a shortage of manpower everywhere. It is impossible for Meng Tian to give Su Mingzhe a full staff and let him command 5,000 people.

For example, if other Weiwei and Duwei came to support alone, Meng Tian would at most give them 30% to 40%, or even 20% to 30% of the troops.

Su Mingzhe arrived early, and with the magical weapon "Dog Cart", Meng Tian had a good impression of Su Mingzhe, so he allocated two thousand soldiers to Su Mingzhe, plus the five hundred troops Su Mingzhe brought with him, making a total of two thousand five hundred people.

After Su Mingzhe finished his military inspection, he went to Linhe County under the leadership of the locals to deploy defenses. Linhe County, although it was built along the river, was actually built north of the Yellow River.

Although the county seat is south of the Great Wall, most of the county is outside the Great Wall.

In other words, Linhe County is not within the protection range of the Great Wall, and a considerable part of the county's territory protrudes out.

When Tuanguo launched a surprise attack, the first county he attacked was Linhe County.

When Su Mingzhe arrived at Linhe County, he saw that there were not many people left in the city.

"Xiao Wuzi, didn't you just say that there are more than 10,000 people in Linhe County?"

Su Mingzhe expanded his spiritual sense and found that there were no more than a thousand people in the entire county, and most of them were women, children, the elderly and the weak.

Zhao Wu was the local who led the way. When he heard Su Mingzhe's question, he smiled bitterly and explained:
"General, Tuan has come to rob us twice in this month. The people in the county have either retreated to the county town or been robbed by Tuan's people. The remaining people are all the elderly, weak, women and children who can't walk."

After hearing this, Su Mingzhe's eyes darkened and he was silent for a moment before he ordered:

"Ling An, take Xiao Wuzi with you and count how many people are left in the county. Give each of them 30 kilograms of corn!"

Ling An is one of Su Mingzhe's official slaves. He is usually taciturn, but very reliable at work. He immediately nodded and accepted the order.

Zhao Wu heard this and hesitated to advise:

"General, we only brought 2,000 dan of grain, which is enough for the brothers to eat for one month. If we give it to them, I'm afraid the remaining food will not be enough for the brothers to survive until next month, right?"

"Who said we have to hold out for a month?"

Su Mingzhe's evil spirit slowly gathered, his eyes were cold:

"Zhou Bo, take your scouts to investigate the gathering place of the Tuan people immediately and report back within three days. Cao Wushang, lead your team to intensify training in the next few days and set out in five days at the latest. We will attack Tuan!"

"Here!"

Zhou Bo and Cao Wushang had an unimaginable trust in Su Mingzhe's martial arts ability and immediately accepted the order.

Tuan had 50,000 soldiers, plus the elderly, women and children, with a total population of over 200,000. Among the nine Rongdi tribes, it was one of the largest.

but.

For Su Mingzhe, even if the number of Tuan's people doubled, it would be as easy as slaughtering chickens and dogs. There would be no difficulty at all.

The only thing he needs to consider is: If a tree stands out in the forest, the wind will destroy it!
The Qin Dynasty has now formed an established aristocratic class. As a newcomer, if Su Mingzhe stands out too much, he will definitely be targeted by all parties.

If the First Emperor had passed away, Su Mingzhe wouldn't care about it.

However, now that Zulong is still alive, Su Mingzhe has to give Zulong some face.

He came to Tuan this time with only one purpose, which was to snatch Princess Yu Shu away.

While Su Mingzhe was plotting to capture Princess Yushu of Tuan, the people of Tuan were also planning a new opportunity for a sneak attack.

When heavy snow blocked the road, it not only caused trouble for the Qin people, but it was also not a good thing for the Tuan people.

When the cold weather comes, it will cause the water and soil to freeze, leading to a series of problems such as river drying up and grassland degradation.

For nomadic people, grassland is their lifeline. Once the grassland is degraded, it means that the livestock will lose weight and cannot survive the cold winter, which will trigger a chain reaction.

Therefore, when heavy snow occurs, most of the Rongdi peoples will invade the farming peoples in the south.

Zhou Bo received the order and led his men deep into the grassland to begin gathering information about Tu'an State.

The Tuan people also received new defenses from Yunzhong County.

Among them, the 2,500 defenders of Linhe County were like dishes on the table that could be easily picked up in the eyes of the Tuan people.

This day.

Zhou Bo reported:

"Master, the Tuan people have five cities, which are at least 500 miles apart. The city closest to Linhe County is called 'Xi'an'. The king of Tuan currently lives here. There are nearly 100,000 people in the city, and about 20,000 soldiers!"

When Su Mingzhe heard that Lord Tuan was in Xi'an, a smile rose on his face:
"Then hit Xi'an!"

(End of this chapter)