The people on board were veterans of battle, and they heard that the explosion was the sound of musket fire. However, there are strict rules in the army, and if there is no order in the barracks, no guns can be fired unless there is an emergency, and violators will be severely punished by military discipline. Therefore, as soon as the guns rang out, all units had to enter a state of alert, and the patrol team on duty immediately closed the camp gate, entered the battle position, and prepared to defend against the enemy.

"Your Majesty, it's the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the lake shore on the right!" The lookout post on the top deck was condescending, and soon discovered the smoke rising from the firearm after it was fired, and reported the location, and Tan Fei immediately reported it to the little emperor.

"Search the place where the gunshots rang out and quickly find out what is going on!" Zhao Hao saw that the location of the gunfire was not far from the place where they were mooring, and then ordered.

"Your Majesty, the camp will send a patrol to go, let's not get close." Tan Fei hesitated and said, in his heart, His Majesty's safety is the most important, and it is also his duty to protect His Majesty, so he discouraged.

"Zheng Yong, order all ships to prepare for battle, and command the fleet to move closer to the place where the guns rang out!" Zhao Yu frowned, and instead ordered Zheng Yong.

"This ...... Subordinates obey! Zheng Yong was also a little embarrassed, but when he saw the unquestioning eyes of the little emperor, he immediately stood up and saluted.

The gunboats raised the yellow signal flag, and the surrounding dragon boats also quickly sounded the alarm bell to prepare for battle, the personnel were in position, the hatch was closed, the lookout compartment was raised, the gun door was opened, and the soldiers attached to it also entered the battle position in full gear, ready to land and search. The flotilla also adjusted its course and discharged the column to quickly sail towards the target, while Zheng Yong also kept an eye on the gunboat and let the gunboat stay at the tail of the line.

The dragon boat sailed fast, and soon approached the shore of the lake, and the front was full of reeds, and the channel was narrow, so the boat could not continue to move forward, so it released a folding boat as a life-saving and carried soldiers into the reeds to search. The gunboats were parked three arrows away from the shore of the lake in case of an attack by an enemy hiding in the reeds, so as to buy time for themselves to dodge and prevent the bow and crossbow from injuring the little emperor on board.

Zhao Hao climbed to the top deck and looked through the reeds with a telescope, but the dense reeds taller than a person blocked the view, and he couldn't see anything except the slightly cyan withered yellow reed poles swaying in the wind. Then he turned his gaze to the direction of the camp, where the navy had already sent several small boats to this direction, and he couldn't help sighing, knowing that if he wanted to catch a person who wanted to avoid in this unsightly reed, it was really more difficult than climbing to the sky.

However, to Zhao Yu's surprise, a small boat quickly sailed out of the reeds and sent up a few people in Song army costumes, and Tan Fei immediately took a few guards down to interrogate. At first, they weren't particularly nervous, but when they saw Tan Fei and the others wearing military uniforms with the logo of the guard battalion, they immediately became nervous, realizing that they might have collided with the big guys.

"Your Majesty, these people claim to be soldiers of the Fifth Brigade and Third Regiment of the Imperial Protector Army, led by a commander who has checked his waist card and is consistent with what they say. The subordinates have notified the Fifth Brigade to send people to identify them to determine whether what they said is true! After a while, Tan Fei came up and said.

"Well, can you tell why they're here and why they're shooting?" Zhao Yu nodded and asked.

"Your Majesty, according to what they said, today they were resting, and the commander was bored, and when he saw that there were water birds in the lake, he wanted to catch a few to satisfy his hunger, so he took a few soldiers here to hunt." Tan Fei replied.

"They hunt with muskets?" Zhao Hao raised his eyebrows and asked.

"It's not!" Tan Fei hurriedly waved his hand and explained, "They still know that they can't shoot without permission near the barracks, they use bows and arrows for hunting, and their subordinates have also checked the prey they have captured, and they are indeed injured by arrows." ”

"And why do you have muskets?" Zhao Yu's face softened slightly when he heard this, and he asked puzzledly.

"Your Majesty, they spotted a beast around the camp during their night patrol, so they brought two muskets in addition to their bows and arrows just in case." Tan Fei replied, "They had hunted a few wild ducks and buffaloads by the lake, and they found that there were deer in the reeds eating the newly grown reed buds, so they wanted to hunt deer enough for the whole camp to eat......

"So they violated military discipline and hunted deer with muskets!" Zhao Yu interjected as a matter of course.

"According to them, after wounding a deer with a bow and arrow, they pursued them into the reeds, but in the course of the search they found several people, and at first they saw that they were few and wanted to attack. In desperation, they opened fire, scaring the unidentified people away. Suspecting that these men were enemy spies, they followed them for a while, and then they got lost in the reeds and could not find anyone. Tan Fei relayed.

"Can you be sure that what they say is true and that they are not a lie made up to escape punishment?" Zhao Hao felt a little unbelievable when he heard this, and asked again after a pause.

"It's basically true." Tan Fei replied, "The subordinates asked several people separately, and they said the same, and they were very scared when they saw that we were from the guard camp, and they didn't dare to lie. ”

"Well, send additional troops to search closely, and you must find out its intentions!" Zhao Yu nodded.

"Your Majesty, with such a large range of reeds, even if it is too difficult to catch a few people even if thousands of troops and horses are dispatched, maybe it is just a few hunters who are panicked when they see the soldiers of our army!" Zheng Yong said with a bitter expression on his face when he heard this. He knew that the rivers crisscrossed the reeds, and it was difficult for people to find their way in them, and it was easy to get lost in them. And the reeds are dense, and some places are dense and impermeable, and it is difficult to enter, and people can't find them if they are dormant in them.

"Your Majesty intends to startle the snake and see if there is still an enemy brigade hidden in it. Instead of getting into the reeds, just bluffing! Tan Fei said on the side.

"Not bad!" Zhao Yu appreciated the authenticity, and Tan Fei had already understood his intentions.

"You bastards, you scattered guns in a mess, and disturbed the holy driver, what kind of crime should you be guilty of!" At this time, there was a burst of shouting and scolding from under the boat, and several people looked down, but it was Luo Datong, the commander of the Fifth Brigade, who boarded the ship to identify the people who were brought on board.

"Dutong, the last general doesn't know that His Majesty is on the lake, and those people intend to attack us, so it's a last resort to shoot!" The commander who caused the trouble dodged Luo Datong's fist and shouted.

"Okay, since it's your person, just take it away, don't shout here!" Zhao Hao saw that his posture was full, but it was just a false trick, and the loud scolding was just for himself, but it was actually intended to be maintained, and he was a little funny.

"The subordinates obey the order, and they will definitely clean them up when they go back!" Hearing His Majesty's voice, Luo Datong hurriedly raised his head and said with a smile.

"Luo Dutong, Your Majesty will send troops to search for Weidang, and your department will also send some people to cooperate with the operation." Zheng Yong hurriedly seized the opportunity to pull Ding Dao.

"Good!" Luo Datong immediately agreed, and then said to his unlucky subordinates, "You immediately lead the people of your headquarters to cooperate with the search of the navy, catch everyone and everything will stop, if you can't catch it, you will be punished for lying about the military situation!" ”

"Yes, the last general will definitely catch those spies to prove his innocence!" The commander was also holding his breath, how could he be so unlucky, not only met His Majesty cruising on the lake, but also met a few guys who dared to attack the army.

Subsequently, the generals mobilized their troops and ships to assemble at the place where the unknown person was found, and launched a large-scale search from the shore and from the water. And Zhao Yu did not leave, but stayed at the scene to wait for news. He looked at the ships that were searching for him, and then at the boats that were densely moored in the camp and the water village not far away, and a trace of worry appeared on his face.

Zhao Yu came to this world to have a deeper understanding of the phrase "people take food as the sky", and understood that without food, human beings not only cannot survive, but can simply do nothing. Fighting a war is also inseparable from food, and only when the troops are well fed can they have the strength to fight against the enemy. If an army starves due to lack of food, it is impossible to win a war.

It can be seen that food is the indispensable and primary material condition for the war to be waged and to be won. Therefore, in ancient warfare, all wise generals attached great importance to the important role of food supply in achieving victory in war, and did everything possible to protect their own food sources and destroy the enemy's food sources.

Of course, when it comes to grain and grass, it is not only the food that is supplied to the soldiers, but also other strategic materials that are intended to be in quantity. For example, it also includes table salt, replenishment of attrition-type weapons, clothing for replacement, forage for war horses, and so on. In short, whether there is enough food and grass has a bearing on an army's combat capability and durability. In the event of a war between the two armies, destroying the other side's grain reserves and cutting off the opponent's grain routes will also be regarded as an important tactic.

For example, in the battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao had more than 100,000 people, Cao Cao barely had 20,000 people, and Yuan Shao had a clear advantage. However, after Yuan Shao's Wuchao grain and grass were burned by Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's army soon collapsed, and the victory changed hands in an instant. Another example is the battle of Qin and Zhao Changping, after Bai Qi sent 25,000 Qin troops to cut off the grain route of the Zhao army, the Zhao army immediately fell into death. It can be seen that ancient wars were to a large extent a competition of strength between grain and grass and grain routes.

In this era, the successive years of conquest made Zhao Yu more aware of the importance of grain and grass and grain routes, grain production is low, transportation means are few, low efficiency, appear more fragile, but the safety of grain routes and grain transportation capacity closely affect the victory or defeat of the war, it can be said that grain roads are the lifeline of the army's operations. If the army is on the offensive, the grain routes will continue to be extended.

Therefore, it is impossible to transport grain from the initial grain and grass base to the advancing forward positions, but must build or occupy relevant cities in the middle of the way to serve as grain and grass storage and transshipment, and these strongholds and cities can also be used as bases for the army to rest. Therefore, it is easy to destroy the grain and grass by the enemy on the long transportation line, and the grain route is also easy to be cut off by the enemy, especially if the opponent is a cavalry with stronger mobility ability, they can use their high-speed mobility ability to attack any node and destroy the transportation line.

Since grain and grass and grain routes are so important, are they so easy to protect? The answer is that it is not easy to protect. Not to mention ancient wars, even modern wars are not easy to protect......