Chapter 1601

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen trampled across the earth, and for a time, dust filled the air.

Gao Yang led his army, galloping forward at full speed.

Soon, the army left Yanmen Commandery behind.

The further they raided into Yanmen Commandery, the more apparent the desolation of the Gobi desert became; the strong wind howled, scraping against their faces like icy blades, causing extreme pain.

After Gao Yang led his tens of thousands of elites on a raid for several days.

Finally, a majestic, towering mountain range appeared within their line of sight; looking at it from afar, it soared into the clouds, appearing extremely spectacular.

While the army rested in place, Gao Yang let out a long breath, gazing at the majestic mountain range not far away, unable to hide his excitement.

"Canglan Mountain... we have arrived!"

"Chen Sheng, go order Pu Duo, Gao Bushi, Li Erji, Wang Xiao, and the others to come see this General!"

Gao Yang issued the order.

Chen Sheng could not hide his excitement and left immediately.

Very soon.

Pu Duo, Gao Bushi, Li Erji, Wang Xiao, and the others all arrived before Gao Yang.

These were all the best among Gao Yang's personal guards, as well as captains and generals from the tens of thousands of Da Qian troops, all gathered before Gao Yang at this moment.

The reward Gao Yang offered was shocking, and everyone also knew of Helian Cha's provocation; they knew this battle was specifically against the Xiongnu, for the sake of revenge.

But exactly where the army was going to strike and how they would march was known only to Gao Yang; it was a top military secret.

"Everyone, the place is crude, so let's just sit on the ground."

Gao Yang spread his hands and said to the group.

Everyone was a military officer and naturally did not care about such things, so they sat on the ground.

Gao Yang looked at them and spoke directly.

"I will just say it: His Majesty's mobilization of troops to Shanglin Commandery and the transport of grain and supplies were merely a ruse. Those ox carts were filled with nothing but sand and dirt; all of this was done for the benefit of those with ulterior motives."

Gao Yang got straight to the point, and just his first sentence left everyone stunned.

The troop mobilization in Shanglin Commandery was just a ruse?

When they were still in Changancheng, they knew the commotion was not small; they had truly believed troops were being deployed from Shanglin Commandery, never expecting it to be just a play.

They were not fools; to pay such a high price to stage a play, the underlying purpose must certainly be significant.

Gao Yang continued, "Within Da Qian, there are many spies from various kingdoms, and even more people who want me dead. This play was specifically staged for them to see."

"And our true objective is a lightning strike on Hexi, to deal a heavy blow to the King of Langya and the King of Zhenyue entrenched here, or even... to seize the Hexi territory!"

"Hiss!"

Hearing this, everyone could not help but gasp.

Especially Gao Bushi and Pu Duo; as Xiongnu themselves, they naturally knew the importance of the Hexi territory to the Xiongnu, and the King of Langya and the King of Zhenyue commanded the largest tribes besides the Left and Right Worthy Kings.

They had not expected Gao Yang's ambition to be so great!

If this Hexi territory were to be seized, the blow to the Xiongnu would be nothing short of devastating.

Li Erji was a straightforward person, and he spoke up directly, "Prime Minister Gao, who in the whole world can compare to your strategy? We rough men don't understand such things."

"Prime Minister Gao, just tell us, and we will follow. You say how to fight this battle, and we will fight it that way; you say where to attack from, and we will attack from there!"

"Everyone, isn't that right?"

As soon as Li Erji spoke, Gao Bushi and Pu Duo also chimed in, "Yes!"

Even the generals following Gao Yang on an expedition for the first time nodded in unison.

The army was full of straightforward men without so many twists and turns; they valued military merit above all. During the defense of Changancheng, he turned the tide, and then followed Gao Tianlong on an expedition, suppressing a group of veteran generals to be the first to break the deadlock and destroy the Xiongnu Chanyu's lair—this alone was worthy of their admiration!

"The march route I have chosen is a bit treacherous; do you dare to follow?"

Gao Yang looked at the group and spoke.

Li Erji laughed and said, "Prime Minister Gao, what are you saying? A mere march route, how treacherous could it be?"

Everyone nodded one after another.

But Gao Yang said, "I intend to cross the Wushui River, avoid the Xiongnu tribes, arrive at the foot of Canglan Mountain, and then climb this Canglan Mountain to strike into the Hexi territory!"

"Generals, do you dare?"

As soon as Gao Yang finished speaking.

Everyone's eyes widened visibly, and they were extremely shocked.

The Wushui River was a winding, large river; although it was June and the water was not too turbulent, crossing the Wushui River was not a simple matter.

Furthermore, the borderlands were vast and boundless; although the land was sparsely populated and Xiongnu tribes were not numerous, it was still very easy to run into them, which tested the army's speed and the scouts' ability to gather intelligence.

But what shocked everyone most was Gao Yang's last sentence.

"Climb over Canglan Mountain!"

Everyone looked up at the Canglan Mountain, which, even from a great distance, still soared into the clouds, and they could not help but swallow hard.

At this moment, even Li Erji, who was usually bold, felt his scalp tingle.

He had been careless.

If the Living Yama called a route "a bit treacherous," how could it be just a little treacherous?

Wang Xiao could not hold back and said in a deep voice, "Prime Minister Gao, this march route is almost impossible."

"Crossing the Wushui River and avoiding the Xiongnu tribes to reach the foot of Canglan Mountain is not difficult, but wanting to climb this Canglan Mountain is too hard!"

"This General sent men to capture some local natives; this Canglan Mountain is hailed by the locals as an evil mountain. Not only does it soar into the clouds, but it is also extremely treacherous. Even in June, the temperature at the summit is extremely low, and when the Heavenly Dao is enraged, it can even snow in June."

"This mountain cannot be climbed!"

As soon as Wang Xiao said this.

Everyone's expressions changed again.

"Snow in June?"

In their understanding, this was almost impossible.

Especially for a rough man like Li Erji, a sense of awe surfaced in his eyes.

Gao Yang shook his head and said dismissively, "What evil mountain? It is just hearsay."

"Hearsay?"

Wang Xiao frowned, "Prime Minister Gao, this General does not understand. Is snow in June a normal phenomenon?"

Gao Yang nodded, "This involves geographical knowledge. Simply put, the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature."

"Altitude?"

Wang Xiao and the others all had question marks on their faces.

Seeing this, Gao Yang explained, "Altitude means height."

"So that's it!"

Everyone looked relieved.

"For every hundred meters of altitude, the temperature drops by about 0.6 degrees. You don't need to understand this 0.6 degrees; you just need to know that the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature. Therefore, even in summer, due to the high altitude, the temperature at the summit is very low. When warm, moist air currents encounter low-temperature environments, the water vapor will rapidly condense into snowflakes, which is what is called—snow in June!"

"This is just a geographical phenomenon!"

Everyone looked enlightened.

Although they did not understand it, they instinctively felt that what Gao Yang said made a lot of sense.

Wang Xiao continued, "But there are Xiongnu tribes of all sizes living at the foot of Canglan Mountain, making it difficult to avoid them. A little further to the side, there are also the Jie people."

"What should we do?"

The question Wang Xiao raised hit the core.

Wanting to step into the Hexi territory from this route and catch the Xiongnu off guard was too difficult.

Gao Yang, however, was very calm.

"These are not difficult problems."

Wang Xiao paused, "Prime Minister Gao has a countermeasure?"

Gao Yang stood up, looked at the distant Canglan Mountain, and said calmly, "It's very simple. If we can sneak in quietly, that's naturally better. If we happen to run into Jie spies or Xiongnu, that's also simple!"

"One word—kill!"

"The enemy is in the light and we are in the dark; at most, it will be small groups of troops and local scouts. We'll just kill them all, won't we?"