The cold north wind carried the snow on the top of the mountain and blew towards my face. It was like being slapped a dozen times, and my cheekbones were turned red by the cold.
This time in Wall Village, Suldak assembled a cavalry battalion composed of two hundred cavalry, fifty guard battalion reserve knights who had just graduated from the knight academy, and thirty mercenaries, plus Andrew and Guli.
Temu, Vilu...the total number is nearly 300 people.
In the desert, a team of this size can be considered a powerful bandit group.
Surdak's cavalry battalion can only be equipped with mounted infantry for the time being. As for the young reserve knights of the security squadron of the guard battalion, they are a group of novices who don't know anything. Therefore, the most powerful combatants in the entire team are the seamen.
Thirty mercenaries from the Giant Mercenary Group.
The old village chief and the whole village stood at the entrance of the village to see off Suldak. Old Sheila, Natasha, and Rita also stood at the front of the group. Rita held little Peter. During this operation, Suldak
They took away almost all the horses in the village, and even traveled across the entire deserted land to the northeastern desert to defeat those desert bandits. Such a feat had never been done in the deserted land for so many years.
Uncle Zamutala, a senior hunter in the village who has now become the driver of Wall Village, grabbed Suldak and said to him with an earnest look: "Don't go too deep, be careful not to let those wind wolves
Watch in groups. Every winter, those wind wolves will gather in groups. They even dare to attack the hibernating brown bears on the edge of the Paglos Mountains. As long as they are hungry, there is nothing they dare not do, and you will never
I can’t even imagine how many there are…”
Surdak was holding the horse and was surrounded by a group of villagers.
The wrinkles on the face of the old village chief Bright were almost piled together, and he whispered to Suldak: "If you can't find the desert bandits, come back quickly. Be careful that there are occasional snowstorms in the desert."
Surdak said to the village chief Bright: "Don't worry, Uncle Bright! This time we went there, not only did we bring three guides who are familiar with the desert, I also found an eagle eye. This time we must take care of him no matter what."
Please improve the map of the southern desert area and wait for the good news of our triumph!"
Captain Gabri Gerry, who was walking at the front of the team, turned back and said to the villagers standing at the entrance of the village to see him off: "We are professionals in dealing with those desert bandits. All you need to do is prepare enough gold coins.
"
Suldak hugged Karl again, and Karl could only whisper to Suldak: "Bring them all back to me safely..."
Obviously, he was a little worried about these reserve knights.
“Take care along the way!”
"You too, Duck!"
Only then did Karl mount his horse and set foot on the cement road leading to Paglos Pass.
He will return to Hiranza City today, while Surdak will take this team to take another route.
…
Surdak took the young reserve knights among the team and headed towards the desert in the northeastern corner of the deserted land.
The horses' hooves crunched the gravel on the desolate land, which was still covered with a thin layer of residual snow. The team headed north along the artificial water channel, bypassing the entrance to the underground river. At this time, the entrance to the underground river was completely covered with ice and snow.
A huge glacial lake is formed. Some reeds and red thatch grow around the glacial lake. After entering winter, these grasses have turned yellow.
There is a great rift valley in the center of the deserted land that runs from east to west. This great rift valley winds for nearly a hundred kilometers. The team did not go through the middle section of the great rift valley and cross the rift valley from the gap there. Instead, they went directly from the great rift valley.
Take a detour on the west side of the valley.
Only by following an ancient trail to the west, avoiding a dead land covered with volcanic ash, and passing through the desolate Gobi can we reach the edge of the desert.
The reserve knights had a solid grasp of equestrian skills. They rode horses and followed the mercenary group. Some people were whispering to each other, seemingly discussing their trip to the desert.
After nearly four days of intensive training in the deserted land, these veterans have barely adapted to riding horses, but their equestrian skills are not very skilled yet. Now they can only sit on the horses honestly, holding the reins tightly with both hands and not daring to let go.
The bodies looked very stiff, but at least they could ride horses and move forward with the large army.
More than seventy camels were at the back of the team, and dozens of veterans were lying on the camels' backs in an extremely ugly posture. The posture of crawling on the camels' backs was really weird. If Gulitem hadn't been there,
The team was watching from behind, maybe they couldn't even ride their camels all the way forward.
Surdak found three guides in a village close to the desert. They were the best hunters in the village and were very familiar with the northeastern part of the desert. They had even been to the edge of the desert many times and knew the edge of the desert.
There are several oases in the area, and I also know where to encounter wind wolves in this season.
Yes, Surdak wants to find the group of wind wolves, and his inventory of primary sacrifices is not large. If he can meet those wind wolves, it may not be a bad thing.
Because there are experienced local guides in the team, there is no need for Viru to use the 'Sight Sight' to explore the surrounding terrain before leaving the deserted land.
Suldak rode a horse and walked side by side with Andrew. The two were discussing how to improve the riding skills of these veterans. In fact, this form of travel is the best training for these veterans.
This time, Surdak did not issue those full-coverage armors to these veterans. The clothes they wore still looked tattered, and they did not have any exquisite leather armor. From a distance, they looked like a group of nomads in the wilderness.
That full-coverage armor was not only very heavy, but also required a lot of physical strength from the war horses. With the exception of a few dozen war horses, these horses were temporarily unable to bear the burden of heavy armored cavalry.
And Surdak did not prepare any additional leather armor, so this trip made the cavalry battalion appear to be in tatters, like a wandering nomad.
Weiru seemed very leisurely among the team. The cold wind seemed to be unable to blow on him at all, and his horse also kept its head down and moved forward.
The reserve knights in the guard camp were whispering in the cold wind. According to the knowledge they learned in the books in the knight academy, this team would not be able to persist for long. In addition to the extreme climate environment and cunning and vicious desert bandits, the team
The biggest problem we face is living supplies.
Even though some people in the team have magic pockets that can carry a large amount of marching rations, as well as water gathering and fire gathering scrolls to provide sufficient drinking water and fuel, these young reserve knights are worried about the nearly two hundred ancient horses.
Borai Ma's materials. For other cavalry regiments, the logistics supply line is the most important thing to protect every time they go on a campaign. However, in Surdak's team of 300 people, they did not see a logistics supply team.
Each horse only carries a bag of beans. The team is about to enter the desert, where they will not get any supplies. This amount of beans is probably only enough for the horses to eat for three or four days. The sea giant mercenary group Gabri.
Before setting off, Captain Li reminded Surdak whether the seventy camels behind him should be organized into a logistics supply team for transporting fodder. Surdak said it was not necessary.
Along the way, Surdak did not disturb those villages along the way. However, some of the team members were aborigines from those villages. When passing by their homes, some people would always be extra excited. There were also some villagers standing at the entrance of the village, watching Su
Erdak's team passed slowly.
The sky is clear and the sun is a bit dazzling.
Several vultures were circling high in the sky.
"Dak, look over there..." Andrew pointed to a not-so-high cliff a few hundred meters to the left and said to Suldak.
Surdak turned around and took a closer look and discovered that Selina was riding a dromedary camel, waiting on the high cliff. She wrapped herself in a thick fur cloak and quietly watched the team coming from under her feet.
After passing by, she saw Suldak looking towards her, then she patted the camel and walked down the hillside...
Selena rode a camel and came to Suldak. Her face was covered with a veil, and her big black eyes were exposed. There was a hint of stubbornness in her eyes. She looked at her as if she was saying:
'Even if you chase me away, I won't leave!'
"Why are you here?" Surdak rode up, leaned over, and put the leather cone hat behind Selena's fur cloak on her head to help shield her from the cold wind.
Selena stared at Suldak and said to Suldak with some guilt: "I think the bandits in the desert should be willing to accept the teachings of the goddess and be favored by the goddess of the night."
"Um, okay..."
Regarding this argument with Selena, Suldak felt that he really had no good reason to argue.
Selina has walked so far out of Wall Village alone, and even if she is asked to return the same way, she probably won't do what Surdak said. It would be better to let her stay in the team. Surdak asked
She: Who will take care of Xigna in the village? Selina said with absolute certainty: Xigna can take care of herself...
They only took a short rest at noon, and continued on their way without even lighting a fire to cook. It was not until nightfall that they crossed the Great Rift Valley and the dead land shrouded in volcanic ash.
Arriving at the northeastern part of the deserted land, this is an area where desert bandits frequently appear. According to the data map compiled by Andrew himself, desert bandits appear very frequently here. Unfortunately, no unlucky group of bandits ran into them this time.
The local guide found a small mound with a small half-moon-shaped depression on the south side. It could accommodate at least a few hundred people camping at the same time. Moreover, there were animal excrement and the remains of campfires. Apparently more than one team had camped here.
Surdak's tent was set up almost as soon as the team stopped. When Selena and Surdak walked into the tent, Andrew and Gulitem were like two door gods guarding the tent.
Outside the tent.
The members of the mercenary group performed their duties under the instructions of Captain Gabri. They almost set up tents, made fires to cook, and fed the horses at the same time. These mercenaries had a clear division of labor and were very organized in their work. Thirty people
The mercenary group only needs to build five tents, and they are distributed in a five-pointed star.
Although the veterans of the cavalry battalion have average riding skills, they are experienced in setting up tents and raising campfires. They also set up tents according to teams, and each team has an independent tent.
As for the reserve knights from the Knight Academy, after last night's very failed exercise, they finally learned smart tonight. Although they lacked experience, they were not stupid. They followed the practices of the veterans in the cavalry battalion and actually
They also set up the tent properly, and three local guides also ran over to help point out some of their shortcomings.
Someone was freezing last night, so they put down their arrogant faces. Although they still didn't say any words of thanks, at least they didn't look bad for the guide's advice.
Surdak stayed in the tent for two quarters of an hour before walking out of the tent again.
This time he almost walked directly to the horses. The mercenary group had already started to feed the horses water. Suldak took two steps quickly, smiled at the mercenary and said, "Fortunately, I didn't come in time."
Night……"
With that said, Surdak pulled out a large bundle of wild hair vines from his magic pocket and piled it in front of the mercenary...
The young mercenary also had a look of astonishment on his face. Who would have thought that the employer in front of him would extravagantly use a magic pocket to carry such cheap fodder, and this bundle of fodder was bundled very strongly. Although it was not as good as alfalfa, it was
It can also be regarded as the vine plant that ancient Bolai horses liked to eat.
It's just that this kind of wild hairy vine is rare near the city of Helensa. This kind of vine can almost be found in the mountains on the outskirts of the city. It's even more impossible to grow this kind of vine that likes shade and water in a deserted place. This kind of vine can only be found in Paglos.
It can only be found in the mountains, but no one is willing to cross the mountains and go all the way to the dangerous Paglos Mountains to harvest livestock fodder.
Surdak placed a large bundle of wild hair vines in front of the mercenaries, then walked directly to the two veterans in the cavalry camp who were looking after the horses. In front of them, he pulled out seven bundles of wild hair vines from his magic belt bag and ordered them to put them away.
Crush the forage, mix it with some beans and feed it to the horse.
At the beginning of dinner, Gulitem held five pieces of wheat cakes and a large pot of porridge cooked from the marching rations. He squatted next to the horses and poured a large pot of food into his stomach, and then looked at the people.
The camels gathered together were drooling, and the camels were so frightened that they huddled together and trembled.
After dinner, Surdak invited the leader of the mercenary group Gabri, the local guide, Andrew, and Vilu to the tent, spread a map full of various symbols on the square table, and began to discuss tomorrow's route.
According to Surdak's estimate, the team will probably enter the edge of the desert at noon tomorrow and leave the deserted land. The desert is a completely unfamiliar place. The bandits in the desert are used to hiding near the oases in the desert.
Which oasis should be cleared first requires a reliable plan to be determined in advance.
Captain Gabri pointed to an unknown desert on the map and said to Suldak: "I know there is an oasis here and a sweet pool there. If there are no accidents, there will probably be bandits living there!
"
Surdak picked up the charcoal pencil, drew a large circle in the unknown area, and said to everyone: "Then this will be our first stop!"