One month later, the 20,000 Western Expedition troops had penetrated more than a thousand miles into the vast Kunlun.
They entered the true wilderness. The forests and grasslands that could be seen before had disappeared, and even flying birds were rare.
Looking around, we can see that there are peaks with no vegetation and jagged mountains and rocks. The top of the peak is covered with snow that does not melt all year round, and at the bottom of the mountain is a barren beach formed by years of falling rocks. People and horses walking on them must be careful every step they take to avoid making mistakes.
If it is good, it will cause sprains on the feet, or even the insteps may be pierced by sharp rocks...
What's even more terrible is that the air has become very thin, and breathing that is usually without feeling becomes extremely laborious. If you move a little bit, your lungs will be on fire, and you will be out of breath as if you are blowing a bellows.
Moreover, the sun is not very poisonous, but if you are directly exposed to it for a while, your skin will be sunburned. Then your whole body will be burning for several days, and it will hurt to move, until the sunburned skin will fall off, and then the cycle starts over again. Everyone's skin turns purple.
Willow bark is as rough as sandpaper.
After being in such a harsh environment for a long time, the soldiers who were still full of energy and chatting and laughing when they set out all became silent, with only the sound of heavy breathing coming and going.
In order to protect themselves from the sun, they wrapped their heads with robes and exposed only their two eyes to look at the road under their feet. It was useless to look forward, because the scene ahead was the same, except for rocks and gravel.
If it hadn't been for the surging Shaliu River beside them, which pointed out the direction for them, the soldiers would have lost their way so many times.
But they still wonder from time to time, could they have gone the wrong way? How could tens of thousands of people and livestock hide in a place like this?
Deng Yu did not ride a horse. He walked silently on the gravel road like ordinary soldiers. It was not that he had the intention to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, but it was simply impossible to ride a horse on this kind of road. Otherwise, if the horse stumbled, the man would fall off the horse and suffer broken tendons.
Bone breaks are minor.
After marching in silence for a long time, before the sun set, the scouts who explored the road came back.
The soldiers brought him to Deng Yu, who looked at him questioningly.
The scout shook his head, and Deng Yu sighed in disappointment, waving his hand to signal him to rest.
Then he hissed to Mu Ying on the side: "Let's go down to camp."
Mu Ying nodded and forced herself to command her subordinates to arrange security, set up a stronghold, and bury pots for cooking.
Especially when cooking, you must hurry up, because you must turn off the fire before dark. Otherwise, after dark, the light of the fire will be a beacon for sneak attackers.
In the mountains, the sun was always impatient to set, and it was already dark before the soldiers could boil the water. They had no choice but to put out the fires and cook rice with unboiled water.
Soaked rice is a field ration invented by the Ming army. It means steaming the rice and then dehumidifying and drying it, so that it can be stored for a long time. In the environment of Kunlun Mountain, it will not go bad for several months. Soak it in hot water when eating.
It can be eaten directly, which is very convenient.
The main non-staple food is to mix tempeh with crushed salt, make it into biscuits and then dry it in the sun. When eating, peel off a piece the size of a date core and eat it with rice to supplement the salt and increase the taste.
In fact, in the early days of the Republic of China, the Ming army had a high status and strong support. They even had dried meat, moon cakes, and candied fruits to eat when they set off, but by now these delicious foods had been exhausted.
Apart from these two kinds of food, the only thing left is some Guokui and fried noodles...
The soldiers sat together in small groups, eating soaked rice and beans with black soy salt in silence, without any complaints. In fact, they had no energy to complain, they just wanted to finish their meal quickly and fall asleep.
As everyone knows, even these two kinds of food are not much...
The baggage officer came close to Deng Yu and reported in a low voice: "Commander, there are only ten days left..."
"..." Deng Yu looked extremely ugly, and the pancake in his hand was hard to swallow.
"Should we reduce the supply starting tomorrow?" Mu Ying whispered.
"..." Deng Yu shook his head. After entering the plateau, the soldiers' consumption was extremely high. As long as they marched normally, the rations they needed would catch up with the battle. This is also an important reason why the military rations bottomed out half a month earlier than expected.
But he did not dare to reduce the food for the soldiers. First of all, not having enough to eat would greatly weaken the physical strength of the soldiers and even affect their ability to compete with the snow-capped mountains on the plateau.
Moreover, Deng Yu knew that soldiers were very sensitive to food. Especially in such difficult times, finding that the ration quota was reduced would severely damage their morale.
"Start killing the animals tomorrow. Kill the donkeys, mules and pack horses first, leaving only the war horses." After a long silence, Deng Yu finally gave the instruction.
"Well." The baggage officer nodded and asked hesitantly: "In this case, the baggage officer can't..."
"Except for what is necessary, throw away everything." Deng Yu said solemnly.
"Yes." The baggage officer responded and left.
"Killing animals also damages morale, right?" Mu Ying whispered.
"It doesn't matter, I will tell the soldiers first that these animals are prepared as rations." Deng Yu said calmly: "It's just time to eat them."
"The commander is really good at soothing people's hearts..." Mu Ying couldn't help but admire him: "The last general has learned another trick."
"Haha..." Deng Yu smiled and was about to speak when he suddenly coughed violently and his face turned red.
Mu Ying quickly handed him some water and massaged his Dazhui, finally stopping his coughing.
"The handsome man's cough is getting worse and worse."
"Before entering the mountain, I was as strong as an ox. It seems that I am no match for Kunlun Mountain." Deng Yu smiled bitterly, and suddenly sighed: "Oh, I never expected to chase a thousand miles away, and I haven't seen it yet.
The figure of Tubo."
According to previous estimates, the Tubo tribesmen, their families, and their livestock would have to hide out for hundreds of miles at most...
"This time's opponent knows the commander-in-chief and our Ming army." Mu Ying said with a bitter smile.
"Well, King Yu of Beiyuan followed us from Xuanfu to Hezhou, so he must be familiar with us." Deng Yu nodded and said, "However, this is not just a problem that can be solved by understanding."
After a pause, he whispered: "I guess our previous judgment was wrong. Their hiding place is not necessarily by the river."
"No way, tens of thousands of people eat horse chews, how much water do they use every day, how can they bear to live without water?" Mu Ying said in disbelief.
In addition to their previous speculations, the Tubo tribes must have hidden in valleys and canyons in the Kunlun Mountains with their old, weak, women, children, and livestock, in places that were sheltered from the wind and passed by rivers.
This kind of place is often humid, warm and has grass growing, so it can possibly accommodate tens of thousands of people taking refuge. Of course, it must be large enough.
Therefore, since the Western Expeditionary Army entered the Kunlun Mountains, they have been searching along the rivers, even the tributaries. They have found several valleys and canyons like this, but there are no traces of people from various Tibetan tribes.
"We neglected one thing." Deng Yu pointed to the patch of white in the air in the distance, which was the snow on the top of the mountain.
