The sandy and scorching sun scorched the Northern Expedition army. Facing the obstruction of huge sand dunes, the soldiers were in a restless mood and unbearably hot.
Zhang Yanling, Zhang Lun and other generals panted and climbed to the top of the sand dune to check the situation. After reaching the top of the sand dune, their hearts became even colder. Looking to the left, they saw the endless undulating sand sea, and to the right, the sand dunes stretched to the banks of the Yellow River several miles away.
There are endless cliffs and ravines with no access roads.
With a sand dune of this size, even if the whole army went up together, they would not be able to find a way out for a year and a half. No matter what, the Kubuqi Sand Dunes would not move and block this already dangerous road.
There is really no way around this road.
Zhang Lun's face was covered with sweat and he looked a little depressed. Of course, he couldn't blame Zhang Yanling for choosing this passage to march. He only said: "Brother Yanling, it seems we have to turn back. This road is blocked."
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Zhang Yanling frowned and thought for a moment and said: "Before leaving Beijing, I read a lot of records and maps of Dongtao. There was never any record that this passage was impassable. Although the information said that this road was not easy to walk, it was
I didn’t say it was impassable. I saw that in the 23rd year of Hongwu, the Dongsheng Guards of Ming Dynasty came north from this passage and attacked
The Tumotewara tribe captured its leader at the fort on the bank of the Yellow River and returned with a great victory. At that time, there were 3,000 horse and infantry troops. Could it be that the documents recorded by the court were wrong? This is unlikely. This kind of battle
The record should be a detailed record. Three thousand horse and infantry troops are not a small number of soldiers and horses. They could move at that time, but why are they blocked now?"
Zhang Lundao said: "What happened during the Hongwu period has been more than a hundred years. In more than a hundred years, anything can happen. It is not surprising that the sand dunes have been moving and blocking the road."
Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "This kind of movement of sand dunes relies on the wind to blow the sand grains and move them. The speed is extremely slow. It may not advance one foot in a year. In a hundred years, even if it moves more than a hundred feet, it is impossible.
It stretches for several miles and completely blocks the road. There must be a famous temple here."
Zhang Lun looked at Zhang Yanling speechlessly, wondering why this man was always so confident and refused to admit defeat. The facts were in front of him, but he still wanted to argue.
"Brother Trillium, our supplies are limited and we cannot delay for too long. We only have two months' worth of food and grass carried with the army. Several carts were overturned by strong winds last night, and nearly half of them have been consumed. We cannot delay any longer," Zhang Lun said.
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Brother Lun, it will take at least half a month to turn back and go north along the Shuofang Ancient Road. If the enemy attacks, the journey will be delayed. Don't be anxious, let me take people to investigate.
, let’s see what’s going on.”
Zhang Lun had no choice but to nod and say: "That's all, you go and take a look, I'll go and appease the brothers. Maybe we have to set up a sunshade tent on the spot. It's very hard for both men and horses."
Zhang Yanling frowned and said: "Brother Lun, it doesn't have to be like this. If you can't bear this little hardship, why fight? The soldiers in the Beijing camp have never endured hardship, how can they be old soldiers? Look at the soldiers of the border army, my navy soldiers and horses
, who is complaining? Those complaining are all the Beijing cavalry. This is not allowed."
Zhang Lun was choked and speechless, so he could only wave his hands and walk down the sand dune.
Zhang Yanling sighed and asked Chen Shiyi, Huo Shijian, Tian Dongxin, Xu Tai and others to follow him and walk eastward along the top of the sand dune. The yellow sand was soft, reaching up to the ankles all the way, and it was extremely difficult for the people in armor to walk.
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When he came down from the largest sand dune in front of him and reached the saddle-shaped groove between another sand dune, he heard a sudden scream. Huo Shijian suddenly disappeared and fell into the quicksand. The surrounding gravel collapsed downwards,
Huo Shijian was completely buried.
"What's going on? Quick, dig him out quickly." Everyone shouted in shock.
Tian Dongxin hurriedly stepped forward to pull out the sand, but his feet collapsed again, and he fell down. The surrounding yellow sand once again poured in from the hole he stepped on, forming a large funnel-shaped hole. The surrounding sand was like
It poured down like running water.
Zhang Yanling shouted: "Don't go there, stay where you are."
Everyone stopped and looked at the sand filling the cave entrance. They all thought: It's over, Huo Shijian and Tian Dongxinding are hopeless.
"How could the sand on the dune collapse? Could it be empty underneath? How could that be possible?" Zhang Yanling was worried about the safety of Huo Shijian and Tian Dongxin, but she was also puzzled by this weird situation.
"General Huo, Tian Qianhu, are you okay?" a general shouted.
Chen Shiyi sighed: "How can this be better? It's buried inside."
However, as soon as he finished speaking, a faint shout came from under the sand. Although the sound was weak, it was definitely a shout. If it were completely buried by the sand, it would obviously be impossible to shout.
"Oh, they can still talk. It seems they were not buried. We need to dig them out quickly. Master, can you call someone?" Chen Shi said with great joy.
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Zhang Yanling said nothing, staring blankly at the sunken yellow sofa.
Everyone followed his gaze and found a piece of dead wood exposed in the sand. It was dark and looked like a piece of dead poplar tree that was common in this area.
"How can there be wood in the sand? Chen Shiyi, tie the rope and stand up and have a look." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Chen Shiyi agreed, tied a rope around his waist, jumped up on the piece of wood. With this jump, all the surrounding yellow sand suddenly began to fall under the shock, revealing more wood. It was about ten feet in diameter.
On the ground, there appeared a grid-like frame made of poplar wood. This was definitely not a natural formation, but rather looked like artificial roof rafters.
After the dark, grid-like hole about ten feet wide opened, the sounds of Huo Shijian and Tian Dongxin coughing and shouting could be clearly heard coming up from below.
"We're fine... Bah, bah, bah, sir, the bottom is empty, the bottom is empty. Ahem, cough, cough."
Everyone was extremely shocked and immediately looked at each other and laughed.
Two hours later, the secret between the dunes was exposed to the sun.
After thousands of people quickly cleaned up, all the sand between the two dunes was removed, revealing a passage between the dunes.
Zhang Yanling and Zhang Lun stood in the passage about ten feet wide, looking at the grid-shaped ceiling made of grid-shaped poplar trees above their heads. The sun above their heads shone in, and streams of yellow sand fell from time to time.
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"It's incredible. There is actually an artificial passage. It's really bizarre." Zhang Lun exclaimed.
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "It's really surprising. You see, two stone walls about ten feet high were built with stones on both sides of the dune to prevent the sand from sliding down on both sides of the dune. Then poplar trees were used to build arches on the stone walls.
A shaped roof is covered with withered grass or branches to prevent falling sand or quicksand from blocking the road. Year after year
When we came down, the sand on the top was completely covered, but it was supported by the tough poplar trees and did not collapse. The bottom was completely empty. If Huo Shijian hadn't walked from above and trampled the sand, the entrances to the north and south would have been sealed by the sand.
Under these circumstances, you would never know that there is actually an ancient road between sand dunes below. Hahaha."
Zhang Lun nodded repeatedly, and he also saw this pattern. The two walls built with big stones next to the tall sand dunes on both sides were to protect the passage from being submerged by the sand collapse. It was obviously done deliberately. Although the roof was rough
, but it is a measure to prevent the path from being buried by quicksand over time.
Maybe someone would come to clean the sand at the entrance before. But in the current situation, no one has been there for at least several decades.
"Brother Lun, look, the stone wall on the west side has collapsed in many places, which is the result of the squeezing of the sand dunes. The power of the sand dunes is huge, and it is unrealistic to rely on a stone wall to stop it. Fortunately, we are lucky.
The sand dunes haven't moved enough to completely collapse the stone wall. Otherwise, if the stone wall on the west side collapses, the roof collapses, and the yellow sand from the dunes pours in, there will be no road at all. It's really lucky." Zhang Yanling said.
Zhang Lun nodded and sighed: "Yes, this is a good sign. God bless my army, God bless the Ming Dynasty. Hey, Brother Yanling is very thoughtful. If you hadn't insisted on taking a look, we would have been in a dilemma."
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "I can only say that it is necessary to collect more information before the war to understand the terrain and history of the combat area. If I hadn't known that soldiers and horses went north from here during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, I would not have been sure.
There is a road here."
Zhang Lun sighed deeply, deeply agreed, and secretly admired him in his heart. The reason why this man achieved great success was no accident. He really worked hard and used his brain. For example, before setting off for the expedition, he didn't even know the terrain of the Loop.
Knowledge depends entirely on knowing it from other people's mouths. But Zhang Yanling did his homework. Facts have proved that his efforts were not in vain.
Zhang Yanling and Zhang Lun stood in the passage and talked for a long time. They both thought that this passage was obviously built by someone who knew the terrain here. Perhaps it was built by the soldiers of the border army stationed in Hetao during the Ming Dynasty. Think about it.
A hundred years later, the Ming army marched north from here again, still enjoying the path opened by the wisdom and sweat of the predecessors. It is really sad, and it feels like time and space are intertwined.
After the road was opened, soldiers and horses immediately began to pass through. The passage was only about ten feet narrow, but it was enough for all the soldiers and horses to pass slowly.
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A few hours later, at sunset, the 110,000-strong army successfully passed through the sand dunes, marched six or seven miles, and camped to rest on a rocky Gobi desert.
Based on the experience of the previous two days, all the vehicles were tied up with ropes to form a sand-proof wall at night, with war horses and tents on the inside. A hundred thousand troops formed thousands of small wind-proof camps.
However, that night, the stars were brilliant and the sky was clear. Except for the howling of wild wolves in the darkness in the distance, there was no wind or rain until dawn.
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