Chapter 385 Ups and Downs

This light snow in early November of the lunar calendar in the ninth year of Jianyan was really insignificant compared to the natural changes in nature, and it did not bring any direct change to the war situation that had already unfolded.

However, no matter whether they were civil or military, Eastern or Western, Song or Jin, almost all knowledgeable people had realized that this snow was enough to be a sign.

A crisis is brewing.

However, before the crisis came, in the gloomy winter weather, on this snowy afternoon, Daming City in Daming Prefecture was the first to welcome hundreds of elite Song cavalrymen from the east. The leading rider held a flag with a "田" character high, and there was another flag with a "张" character behind him. They came to the front of the city to talk, and the people of Daming City did not dare to neglect their identities after checking their identities, so they opened the city gates and immediately let the hundred riders in.

The two leading figures among the visitors were none other than Tian Shizhong, deputy commander of the Right Army of the Imperial Camp, and Zhang Zigai, who had previously served in the front army of the Imperial Camp but was pushed back to the Right Army of the Imperial Camp by Yue Fei and now led the Beiwei Army.

When the two men entered Daming City, they were greeted by Wang Gui, deputy commander of the front army of the imperial camp, and Tang Huai, commander of the central army, who had come to greet them after hearing the news.

"General Tian." Tang Huai was not good at speaking, so Wang Gui greeted him. "Did the journey go smoothly?"

"I am the deputy governor, and the governor is my family's governor." Tian Shizhong immediately corrected coldly. "It was fine on the way, but when we got close to here, we encountered some troubles... Why are there so many logging teams, almost blocking the road?"

"The marshal gave the order directly, and the operation started the day after we captured the city. It has not stopped since then, and we didn't ask. Anyway, the more fortifications and planks, the better." Wang Guiqing knew that the other party liked to pretend to be indifferent, so he didn't care about his tone and just explained casually.

"That's true." Tian Shizhong asked casually, and then pointed to two large banners that could be seen in the distance somewhere in the west of the city. "Has Commander Zhang arrived?"

"We're here. He's meeting my marshal near the water gate on the west side of the city. He said that once Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tian arrives, we'll invite you over directly." Since they were just greetings, Wang Gui didn't say anything more and just led the way.

Hearing this, Tian Shizhong frowned even more, but he did not ask any more questions. He just asked Zhang Zigai to take his subordinates and Tang Huai to have some hot soup, while he and Wang Gui hurried to meet Yue and Zhang.

After passing the two large banners and arriving near the water gate in the west of the city, they did not see many flags or senior officers. There was only a hot air balloon painted with a tiger face that had already been inflated and was swaying slightly on a rammed earth platform that was originally raised two or three feet high, as if ready. Yue and Zhang, dressed in casual clothes, were also standing next to the hot air balloon, and when they saw Tian Shizhong and Wang Gui coming over, they waved and immediately jumped into the big basket.

Nowadays, there are many people who dare to fly around in hot air balloons, let alone this tethered hot air balloon. Master Tian understood and had nothing to be shy about. In order to prevent overheating, he quickly took off his outer armor and followed Wang Gui into the basket.

Then, the soldiers below, under the command of the famous commander Bei Yanbei, carefully helped to remove the counterweight and release the ropes with hinges, but they only dared to let the hot air balloon rise another four or five feet high. Moreover, the ropes on all four sides were also tied properly to the corner towers and trees on the four sides of the platform... It seemed that they were still worried about something happening. If the balloon fell, four generals from Hebei would be killed, and the luck of the Northern Expedition would be lost.

However, this height is enough.

After all, this safe and spacious elevated observation deck is simply incomparable to the narrow and cramped wooden frame observation deck. The four of them took out the imperial crystal telescopes from the basket and looked around. The surrounding military camps, roads, rivers, markets, and trees were clearly visible, especially the layout of Yuan City opposite Daming City. Without the protection of the four-meter-high city wall, the interior layout was almost visible at a glance.

They could even clearly see through the telescope that the Jin army in Yuancheng were pointing and talking at the hot air balloons rising here, as if they were used to it.

That's right, I have to say one more thing here. The Daming City, which gave Daming Prefecture its name, is not the capital of Daming Prefecture today. The Yuan City, separated by a river, is the capital of Daming Prefecture today, which is the so-called 'Beijing City' in the traditional sense of the Song Dynasty.

The reasons for this change are unknown.

However, judging from the geographical situation from which Tian Shizhong and others were looking down at the time, the migration of the main body of the city seemed to be natural - Yuancheng on the other side of the river was located in the narrowest area in the middle of the fork of the northern Yellow River. It was directly adjacent to the Yellow River fork in the east and only ten miles away from another fork in the west. Together with the Yongji Canal that passed through the western river and turned north in Damingfu, the three waterways passing through Damingfu almost ran through the entire Hebei region.

This made this place a natural transportation hub in the Hebei region under the territorial conditions before the Song Dynasty.

In comparison, the famous city at their feet, which the Song army had occupied just over ten days ago, was more like some kind of functional accompanying city on the opposite side, because it only guarded a waterway to the east of Yuancheng.

There is even an ancient town about ten miles east of Daming City, next to another fork of the Yellow River. Some people say that that was the original location of the main city of Daming Prefecture.

Without further ado, Tian Shizhong looked through the basket for a while, then suddenly put away the telescope and pointed in astonishment at a place opposite: "Are those counterweight artillery vehicles?!"

"Yes!" Yue Fei knew where the other party was pointing without even looking. "All twenty. The Battle of Nanyang happened eight years ago. How could they hide it? The other side not only has counterweight artillery vehicles, but also hot air balloons..."

"How come I didn't see it?" Tian Shizhong just came back to his senses and asked in surprise.

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