In Liaodong Bay, the north wind whistles and the sea surface is frozen. Several hard sailboats and sail together, barely sailing against the wind in the sea that has not yet been frozen into blocks, circle around the sea surface that is floating on the floating ice, avoiding large pieces of floating ice on the sea surface as much as possible.

However, for the huge sea boats, such sailing is too difficult. As they see the more they lean towards the frozen sea, there are more and more large pieces of floating ice, and the sea boats gradually retract their sails and stop and float on the edge of the floating ice area.

One of the sea ships lowered the boat and took it as a pioneer to survey possible safe waterways in floating ice waters.

The crew rowed the boat and continued to approach the frozen sea. The iron-clad hull kept colliding with the floating ice, making a terrifying sound of impact.

If an ordinary wooden boat collided with the floes, it would be easily knocked out of the rift, and then a large amount of cold sea water would be poured into the cabin. This is very dangerous for the sea boat and the personnel on board. Even if the boat is wrapped in iron, it cannot be unscrupulous to fight with the floes.

After finally entering the frozen sea, people were waiting on the thick ice for a long time. Under the command of these people, the boat was berthed smoothly on the floating ice, ending a journey without any danger.

Of course, these people who were waiting on the floating ice did not come out of thin air. They were soldiers of the garrison in the island ahead. Now the waters around the island are frozen, and the thick ice layer is more than one foot, so they can walk on the ice, leave the island, and "walk" on the sea.

This big island is named "Peach Blossom Island" because of the peach trees (wild) on the island. It is located on the west side of Liaodong Bay. The island is about twenty miles away from the western Liaoning coastline on the west side. It is the largest island in Liaodong Bay.

Taohua Island has a bay called Taohuapu, which is an important transit port on the route within Liaodong Bay. Because the location of Taohua Island is very important, the imperial court officially named it "Juehua Island".

Zhou State built a city on Juehua Island (Taohua Island), and the seaport also had garrisons and navy troops, using it as a transit port to support military operations against Liaodong, and also an important port on the sea route between Yingzhou and Liaodong Peninsula and Laizhou.

Now, Juehua Island is about to come in handy.

The garrison of Juehua Island had already prepared barges (similar to square ships at floating docks). When winter came, many barges were fixed in the waters east of the island through iron anchors, and they were chained together with iron chains to form a long series of "ship chains".

After winter begins, the sea surface freezes, and these barges become the fulcrum of the trestle on the ice.

At this time, the garrisons of Juehua Island were already busy. They started with the island and connected the pre-prepared building materials to form a pier that extended to the east.

The sea ships set sail from Lushun, the southern end of the Liaodong Peninsula, will carry troops across the sea north, and moor in the waters of Juehua Island for a transit, waiting for an opportunity to land in the northeast of Liaodong Bay and start combat operations. In this season when the sea is frozen, it will surprise the Liaodong garrison of Goguryeo.

Attacking from the sea during the ice age, this is a bold tactic. After years of layout and continuous drilling, it has finally been successfully carried out after many efforts. Juehua Island is ready, and the fleet that crosses the sea has also begun berthing operations.

On the sea, there were also small boats following the trajectory of the iron boat. Long ropes were towed at the stern, and floats were tied to the ropes. These floats were connected in series on the long ropes, each with small red flags, which were particularly conspicuous in a snow-white floating ice sea, outlining a relatively safe waterway.

The sea boats hovering outside the sea gradually approached the frozen sea along this temporary waterway, and finally rode smoothly on the ice surface. Then they were connected with iron cables and wooden boards to become a simple wooden floating island.

The pier that rose from Zijuehua Island slowly approached the floating island, and a large number of sails gradually appeared in the sea to the south. It was a fleet that set off from Lushun, directly crossing the sea to the north and about to arrive at the waters of Juehua Island.

In the bitter north wind, countless hard sails sailed against the wind, using their sails together, walking on the zigzag tracks approaching the "Floating Island", like a river crossing, densely packed.

......

As dawn approaches, it is still dark everywhere. Under the north wind, the endless sea surface has now frozen into ice, but the ice surface is not smooth. Waves of frozen waves and floating ice continue to overlap, making the frozen sea surface full of rolling ice piles and potholes everywhere.

As the sound of gasping, dog sledding cars were galloping on the frozen sea. Long-haired dogs dragged the sled behind them, moving left and right on the undulating ice surface. The sled car behind them cleverly bypassed many obstacles and headed towards the distant coastline.

There were several soldiers sitting on each sled car. They wore thick hooded cotton hooded styles, cloth armor with great materials and good cold resistance. They carried bows, arrows, ring-headed swords, ice axes and other weapons, and drove the dog forward.

The sea surface in the coastal areas of Liaodong will freeze every winter and will not gradually thaw until February of the following year. The same is true for the Laizhou waters opposite the sea. Therefore, the "Hongjun" affiliated to the Beiyang Trading Company specially draws people to train a "sled team" to practice how to use dog sleds to quickly move on the frozen sea.

Every dog ​​pulling a sled has "put on" iron claws, so it can run calmly on the slippery ice surface. A sled car with two sled boards can carry hundreds of kilograms of weight on ordinary ice surfaces, and will not fracturing the ice surface and fall into the sea.

Years of hard practice have allowed these special "hair soldiers" to master the dog sled control skills and perform a very important task.

The cloth armor they wore was a brand new armor style. This armor was riveted with iron on the inside of a thick piece of clothing (filled with cotton wool). It not only protects from the cold but also ensures defense. It is specially designed for troops fighting in cold areas.

The soldiers of the "Hunjun" also had a cold-proof design, plus thick military uniforms, cold-proof masks and hooded capes. Even if they were galloping on the vast ice at this time, they were not afraid of the biting cold wind.

Several moving sled cars were towed long ropes at the back, and one person in each car released the long rope at the rear, so that the sled car had a long tail.

The long rope is called "blasting rope", and there are bursting tubes the size of bamboo tubes connected in series, containing "hard explosives". Once detonated, a "blasting rope" can blow out a long crack in the ice layer.

This kind of blasting cable is expensive, but the ice breaking effect is very good. After several blasting cables are carefully arranged, a waterway can be cleared on the frozen sea surface but not very strong, allowing the sea ship to approach the solid frozen surface.

After the troops on it were disembarking, they could step on the solid ice surface and head towards the coast more than ten miles away.

There is a coast near the mouth of the Liao River, and it is the preset landing location for the Zhou State Expeditionary Force.

I don’t know how long it took, the light of dawn flashed from the eastern horizon, and the dawn shone on the sea with ice and water, illuminating countless sail shadows. It was a fleet that sailed through Juehua Island. Now it was sailing across the wind overnight and successfully arrived at the designated sea area.

The ship was loaded with "门" and military supplies as vanguards, and sharpened his knife to Liaodong.

As the fleet gradually leaned towards the frozen sea, an explosion suddenly sounded on the sea, like a burst of spring thunder, shaking people's heartstrings.
Chapter completed!