There are two Silk Roads from Jinchang to Suiye City.
One is to walk northwest after leaving Jinchang and pass through the dangerous 800-mile Moheyan Moraine.
The 800-mile Moheyan Moraine is endless. quicksand, all the time There is a danger of being swept away by the quicksand.
Even if you are not swept away by the quicksand, there is a high possibility of dying of thirst or getting lost in the desert.
Starving or dying of thirst in the sea of death sand, crossing the 800-mile Moheyan Moraine.
After that, we have to cross five peaks, each There are Tang army soldiers stationed at the peaks, but this has little impact on Zhao Ziliang and his party.
No one dares to refuse to let them pass.
After passing the five peaks and then entering Yizhou, the road after arriving in Yizhou is easy.
There are oases everywhere that can be The army received supplies.
After arriving at Yiwu, the seat of Yizhou, there were two branch roads to Suiye City.
One was to take Tingzhou, the seat of the Beiting Protectorate, and the other branch was to go southwest to Anxi Sisi.
One of the towns is Yanqi Town.
The second road goes west after leaving Jinchang and enters the boundary of Shazhou.
It passes through Dunhuang, the seat of Shazhou, and Guoyangguan.
There are two more branch roads to Suiye City.
One branch road goes all the way west and passes through the former hometown of Loulan.
Puchanghai, then go west along the Kongque River, then walk along the Red River or Tarim River to Qiuci Town.
From Qiuci Town, walk to the city and cross the Badaling Mountains.
Then go to Suiye City, another branch road is much further, that is, after leaving Yangguan, go southwest through the vast desert to Ruoqiang, then continue southwest from Ruoqiang to Qiemo, and from Qiemo to Anxi to Ruoqiang.
Guard Lancheng in Khotan Town, go all the way across Khotan, then head towards Shule Town, pass through Tuoyun Fort, and then head northwest to reach Suiye City.
It is summer now, and the temperature in the desert is too high.
The weather gets hotter as you go south.
A few years ago, Zhao Ziliang took the first branch of the second route from Anxi back to Chang'an.
However, it was the turn of winter and spring, so he took the second branch.
The weather is warmer on the first branch of the road, but now it is midsummer, so we can only take the first branch.
It is much safer to take the second branch route after Yiwu, which is to go to Kucha Town.
After all, he has few connections in the Beiting Protectorate, but it is different in the Four Towns of Anxi.
There are good comrades everywhere. , colleagues and subordinates, even the deputy governor of Anxi and the military governor of Anxi, Meng Lingqi, admired him very much.
Not long after leaving Jinchang City, the terrain and the environment along the way have undergone tremendous changes.
The endless Gobi Desert appears in front of us.
The Gobi Desert has gentle terrain, a desert covered with large areas of gravel, and fine details on the ground.
The sand had been blown away by the strong wind, leaving only gravel as a blanket.
It was all earthy yellow and not a single bit of green plants could be seen.
In addition to gravel deserts covered with gravel, there are also many rock deserts on the Gobi Desert.
There are many towering exposed rocks on the ground.
They are bare, barren, and have strange shapes.
In some places, there are many rock deserts.
Even if a large army hides in them, it will not be easy to be destroyed.
Probe.
The hot weather and windy sand made the marching speed of the escort army even busier.
They could only walk fifty or sixty miles a day, which was the limit.
The best time to march was from 4 to 10 in the morning, before 4 to 8 in the afternoon, and at night.
The temperature dropped, so they could only camp and rest to keep warm.
The temperature was too high at other times.
Marching during this period would cause a large number of non-combat attrition.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
Zhao Ziliang did not dare to take this risk.
Even the Tang army who often garrisoned in this generation did not dare to move around during this period.
That evening when they set up camp, Zhao Ziliang was talking to Ashina Xin.
Bo Lahan opened the tent curtain and walked in.
Seeing that Ash Na Xin was here, he hesitated.
Zhao Ziliang frowned and said, " Bo La Han , there is something that Khan cannot know."
Bo Lehan then handed over his hands and said: "General, Khan, and the scouts sent out by my subordinates came to report.
Several times in the past two days, they found people secretly spying on our army and camp.
But when the scouts went to hunt them down, they He quickly disappeared without a trace, which shows that the spy is very familiar with the terrain in this area, otherwise he would not be able to easily escape the pursuit of my scout."
"Oh, Zhao Ziliang frowned when he heard this, but Ashina Xin's expression changed, and his heart was in his throat.
Ashina Xin may have been in Chang'an for a long time, and his temperament was almost worn out.
After hearing this, he felt that someone was going to do something bad to him, and he was extremely worried and said: "General Zhao, is something going to happen?"
Zhao Ziliang said seriously: "Khan, there is no need to worry.
If someone really wants to harm us, no matter how worried we are, the enemy will not watch us leave.
They will naturally take action when they should.
What is not good for us now is, We don't know who is going to deal with us, the other party Regardless of our strength, we are not afraid of war.
In this Gobi Desert and in the vast desert, only two things are most important.
The first is water, and the second is food.
Without water and food, even if our army fights No matter how strong you are, if you are hungry or thirsty for a few days, you will all become a dead fish.
Alas, here is an order from this general to have the cooks work overnight to prepare dry food for three days, and prepare drinking water for each soldier for three days.
Let them carry it themselves, and eat their own water and food.
They are not allowed to share it with others, and they must also protect it.
No more food and water will be distributed during the day.
If you finish eating and drinking in advance, It’s time for them to be hungry and thirsty.
All other food and water are under centralized control in the baggage team.
The baggage team must be more vigilant to prevent anyone from sneaking into our food, grass and drinking water.
In addition, more reconnaissance cavalry will be sent out to investigate every hour.
Report it once, and if you discover enemy conditions, report it at any time."
"promise" Zhao Ziliang remembered what Le Tinghuan had said when he came out of Jinchang City.
Maybe he was hinting that someone was going to harm the escorting army.
Who was he coming for?
Was it coming for him, Zhao Ziliang, or for Ashina?
Zhao Ziliang had no way of knowing the information he had received.
There was too little information.
Now he was taking one step at a time to cope with all changes by staying the same.
Zhao Ziliang did not intend to hide this matter from the soldiers.
After dinner, Zhao Ziliang ordered the entire army to assemble.
He roughly changed the situation discovered by the scouts, made a request, and asked the soldiers to be more vigilant, and encouraged: " We still don’t know who the enemy is hiding in the dark, but brothers, don’t worry, you must know that we are soldiers, the divine warriors of the Tang Dynasty Forbidden Army.
Even if any enemy comes, we There is no need to be afraid, not to mention that most of the people who appear in this Gobi are just some horse bandits and petty thieves.
As long as the soldiers do not panic when encountering trouble and obey military orders, the enemy will not be able to do anything to us.
This is our land of the Tang Dynasty.
Some horses Bandits and petty thieves can't make a living, they can only have two or three thousand people at most, and if this small force wants to take down my thousand well-equipped and powerful Shenwu Army, isn't their leader afraid of having his teeth broken?"
"Hahaha" The soldiers were a little worried at first.
After all, they were unfamiliar with the place and the environment was poor.
It would be a lie to say that they were not afraid or worried.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
However, after hearing what Zhao Ziliang said, everyone was no longer worried.
Laughed loudly.
This is strategically despising the enemy, but tactically it requires attention.
Many times he is overturned by the enemy because he is too careless.
Zhao Ziliang does not want to be someone who is overturned by others, and he does not fall behind on the preparations he should make.
On the fourth day of August, it had been two days since the army entered the Gobi Desert.
Over the past two days, knights had been spying on the Tang army led by Zhao Ziliang, and the spies were becoming more and more frequent.
While setting up camp for a rest in the morning, Brahan reported to Zhao Ziliang: "General, the reconnaissance cavalry has found some clues.
Judging from the snooping methods, the opponent's attire, the riding posture, behavior and discarded things, there is no doubt that the opponent should be a horse bandit. " Everything else can be faked, but the riding posture cannot be faked.
This is a long-term riding habit.
Regular cavalry has undergone strict formal training, and the riding posture is precise.
Even the cavalry of the nomadic tribes on the grassland has been trained. , you can see the traces of training, but the horse bandits have different riding postures.
Some of them have been able to ride horses since they were young, and some learned to ride horses as a monk, but without formal training, they ride how they feel comfortable, and their postures are very different.
Free and loves to do fancy moves.
After listening to Bo Lehan's report, Zhao Ziliang said: "They may be about to take action.
Send the order.
From now on, be ready to fight at any time."
"Follow your orders" At around four o'clock in the afternoon, the army broke camp again and set off.
According to Zhao Ziliang's plan, they would march ten hours a day during this period.
Calculated at eight miles per hour, the daily marching distance would be eighty miles.
This march on the Gobi Desert was already very quickly The march was speeding up.
The morning started at 4 a.m. and ended at 10 a.m., and the afternoon lasted from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.
It wasn't completely dark yet at 8 p.m., so there was still time to set up camp, and we avoided the hottest period of noon for six hours. and the coldest eight hours of the night.
At around five o'clock, the army had just walked out of a rocky desert area lined with bare rocks.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, this area was an area where they were likely to be ambushed.
After walking out of this rocky desert area, there was no sight in front of them.
The blocked gravel desert area.
However, before the army had completely walked out of the rocky desert, Zhao Ziliang heard a rumbling vibration.
His expression changed and he immediately shouted: "Bolehan, check what's going on."
"No!"
Brahan agreed and immediately sent out several of his followers to investigate.
He himself immediately jumped off his horse and lay on the ground with one ear on the ground.
After a long time, Brahan got up and reported to Zhao Ziliang: "General, there are about five hundred cavalry coming from the front.
Listening to the sound of horse hooves, the formation is scattered and not neat."
Zhao Ziliang turned around and looked at it, and said to Bo Han: "Send someone to the rear to check the situation, and report the others to stay where they are at any time."
After giving the instructions, he immediately galloped towards a high ground on the left, and several followers The team leader and the brigade commander followed on horseback, while the three Shenwu military lieutenants stayed in place to lead the troops.
Arriving on the high ground, Zhao Ziliang picked up his telescope and looked ahead.
A large number of cavalry appeared in the telescope's lens.
Sure enough, the formation was scattered and smoke was everywhere.
They were still about five or six miles away.
Judging from the costumes, they must be horse bandits.
He also used a telescope to observe the situation behind the army and the surrounding rock desert and stone forest.
No trace of other enemies was found.
Zhao Ziliang felt relieved.
Free novels bring you joy and joy ---> storyskyline.net
This was indeed a group of horse bandits who did not understand soldiers and horses.
If he sent another one at this time, The soldiers and horses came from behind, and the Tang army might not be able to resist it when they were attacked from both sides.
"Go, get down" Returning to the main formation, the horse bandits in front had already appeared in front of them.
The sound of horse hooves could be heard continuously, and a large amount of smoke and dust were everywhere.
Zhao Ziliang immediately gave an order to Captain Shi Chonglin of the Shenwu Army Cavalry: "Colonel Shi, there are about 500 cavalry coming from the opposite side.
I ordered 200 Shenwu Army cavalry to meet the enemy.
Are you sure?"
Shi Chonglin clasped his fists and said: "General, don't worry, if it's 500 regular army cavalry, I wouldn't dare to talk nonsense, but there are only 500 horse bandits.
If I and my 200 cavalry can't deal with them, I can only go back."
The family has gone to farm" "Very good, but remember, after defeating them, you are not allowed to pursue them, nor are you allowed to clean up the battlefield, just return directly."
Shi Chonglin was a little confused and wanted to ask why, but he remembered that Zhao Ziliang had long said that he must obey military orders and was not allowed to ask why, so he did not dare to ask again and agreed: "Promise":