After the unsuccessful night attack, the Tatar cavalry suddenly disappeared like air.
For several days in a row, the search range of the scout cavalry sent by the Ming army expanded to a radius of sixty miles, but still no trace of the Tatar cavalry was found. Everyone in the army could not help but have some doubts and worries.
Worrying when the enemy is around you, and even more worrying when you can't see the shadow of the enemy. Zhang Yanling is speechless about this mentality. In the final analysis, it is still a problem caused by his lack of confidence in his own strength and the long-term fear of the Tatars.
Caused by psychological pressure.
Zhang Yanling understood everyone's doubts and speculations about the Tatars' movements, and there was no need to waste words with them. Because Zhang Yanling firmly believed that no matter where the Tatars went, when the Ming soldiers and horses attacked the front and rear plains and occupied the ferry, they
It will definitely appear.
The Tatars are unwilling to attack in an all-out way now, but when the time comes, they will definitely launch an attack. And they will spare no effort.
Zhang Yanling ordered the army to continue marching north. The speed increased slightly, and the daily marching distance was slightly longer. After all, there was no harassment from the Tatars. The marching speed of sixty miles a day was still not fast, but it was already ensuring a heavy
The baggage vehicles could keep up with the team's fastest speed.
On May 27, twelve days after the army set off from Piantou Pass, the Northern Expedition passed through the Hexi Gobi on the east side of the Ordos Plateau. The greenery in front disappeared, the sea of sand was vast, and it had arrived at the edge of the Kubuqi Desert.
Kou Kou five six 37 four three Lu Qi Wu
The Kubuqi Desert covers the inner side of the several bends of the Yellow River. It is very large and has a long and narrow shape. It is six to seven hundred miles long from east to west and less than two hundred miles wide from north to south. However, the Kubuqi Desert is not as desolate as other deserts. On the bank of the Yellow River, Bayan
Choer Grassland and Tumut Grassland are like two green gems inlaid on the bank of the Yellow River on the north side of the desert, occupying a large area of the Kubuqi Desert.
As early as the Zhou Dynasty, this was a fertile land covered by forests, grasslands, and rivers. Crowds gathered and herds of cattle and sheep were gathered here. It was the home of the Xiongnu and other northern peoples. However, as time went by, felling, grazing, conquests, and killings continued.
The flooding of the Yellow River has caused sand and soil to accumulate, and climate change has caused the area to dry out. The trees have disappeared, the wind has become strong, and various factors have led to serious desertification here, forming a huge desert terrain.
The Central Plains dynasty and the northern peoples were constantly fighting in the Hetao land, plundering resources and trampling on the land. Cutting and fires, killing and destruction continued for years. A few thousand years may not be long or short, but it is enough to
The combination of various factors turns grasslands into deserts and life into barrenness.
Perhaps it can be said that the Kubuqi Desert is actually the result of desertification of a huge grassland. From this perspective, the Tumut and Bayanchor grasslands do not belong to the oases in this desert, but rather the Kubuqi Desert.
The desert on the grassland is right.
The middle area of the Kubuqi Desert is a Gobi passage. Although there are strong winds and floating sand, some vegetation grows. It is the only way to go south. Along the way, there is the ancient Shuofang City as a transit point, which is the ancient road that travels from north to south in Dongtao.
Generally speaking, large convoys of soldiers and horses would pass through this corridor in the middle. However, this time, the Ming army chose to continue north along the bank of the Yellow River on the east side of the desert.
First, if you want to go north from the Shuofang Ancient Road, you need to go west for three hundred miles. And the ancient road is two hundred miles long from north to south. It takes five to six hundred miles to reach the several bends of the Yellow River. Such a long marching distance, a large army
It will take at least half a month. This is unbearable.
Secondly, after the Tatar cavalry disappears, they are likely to set up a net on the ancient Gobi road. The desert Gobi passage is actually a wind channel. When strong winds rise, the dust will be diffuse, which will create a good opportunity for the Tatar cavalry to make a sneak attack.
Naturally, there is nothing to be afraid of after setting foot in the camp. The barbed wire fence can block the Tatar charge, and there are various means to resist the enemy. However, if you are attacked while marching and encounter a sandstorm, the consequences will be disastrous.
Therefore, after some weighing, Zhang Lun agreed with Zhang Yanling's idea of going directly north and traveling through the sand dunes and Gobi areas on the banks of the Yellow River.
The advantage of doing this is that although this section of the journey is only a hundred miles, you can go directly to the Tumut Grassland after traveling through it. This greatly shortens the journey and reaches the goal directly.
Tower Reading@@!
What's even more sad is that the weather is gray, the sun can't be seen, only the halo in the sky can be seen, the weather has become extremely hot, everyone is covered in sweat, and there is still fine sand sticking to it. This feeling is indescribable.
Fortunately, with the guidance of the compass and the signs of the towering cliffs on the east side of the Yellow River, the army continued to advance. After walking seven or eight miles, the front team came to a complete halt.
The front camp sent someone to report that there was no road ahead.
Zhang Yanling and Zhang Lun rushed to check a few miles ahead. From a distance, they saw a hill lying in front of the team. When they looked closer, they saw that it was not a mountain, but several continuous sand dunes like hills lying across the road.
It spans from east to west and is more than three miles wide.
This time, everyone really realized what it means to have a sand dune as big as a mountain. Such a sand dune actually moved to the Gobi passage. This is caused by the power of nature and miraculous craftsmanship. This is also the reason why the Kubuqi Desert continues to invade the surrounding Gobi and
Proof of Prairie Land.
It was not a silent invasion, but a brutal invasion in which the entire dune moved and invaded directly. The Kubuqi Desert was able to form such a large scale in thousands of years precisely because
His violent and intrusive qualities are unabashedly domineering.
But the trouble now is that the soldiers and horses are tightly blocked here and cannot move forward. To the west is the desert, and to the east is the cliff and ravine area on the bank of the Yellow River. The only few miles of Gobi ground is blocked, which means that
We've reached a dead end.
The sun was scorching overhead, and the men and horses were extremely hot and sweaty. The 110,000-strong army was in a dilemma.
This was only the second day, and everything seemed to prove that Zhang Yanling's decision to choose this road to go north was wrong. The hot and helpless soldiers all complained in their hearts.
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