In summer, there is a big difference between marching in the desert and marching on the plains. If there is no special reason for marching in the plains and mountains, you usually march during the day and camp at night. But in the desert, it is the other way around.
, can only rest during the day and march at night.
Because the sand is relatively soft, horses move much slower in the desert. They can run more than a hundred miles a day on the plains, but here they can only cover thirty or forty miles. If you don't spare the horsepower, you can run more.
More than ten miles. The most suitable mount here is not a horse, but a camel. Because camels have larger soles and can store water in their bodies.
Even if you hide in the tent, you can only avoid getting sunburned. The temperature inside is still very high. Even if you don't understand, the water you carry with you is being consumed quickly. Many officers are beginning to become anxious. According to this
At such a speed, in just four or five days, the drinking water accompanying us will be used up.
After the sun set, the heat on the ground quickly dissipated, and the temperature plummeted from more than 40 degrees to less than 20 degrees. Chen Cheng then walked out of the tent and ordered the soldiers to pack their bags and prepare to continue on their way. Yang Qiu watched the sky rise.
He traced the stars on the map for a long time, then pointed in a direction and said: "There should be a water source over there!"
"should?"
Xu Rong licked his lips and said: "That's probably not possible. If you get lost in this desert, you will be dried into a mummy. How far is it?"
Yang Qiuqian smiled and said: "This is also the first time I have gone so far into the desert, and my grasp of the distance is not very accurate."
Chen Cheng tied Gulu's laces tightly, then jumped on the horse and said to Yang Qiu: "There's no need to look at your crappy map. Just follow me. I know where the oasis is."
Yang Qiu said in astonishment: "How could the envoy know?"
Chen Cheng glanced at him and said: "If you know, you know. Why do you need to ask so many questions? Everyone, listen to the order and follow me!"
After that, he clamped the horse's belly tightly and ran towards the right front. Xu Rong silently drove the horse to follow. After Yang Qiu was stunned for a while, he put away the map in his hand and called on his subordinates to follow him.
The group of people ran forward for more than ten miles. The soldier at the front rode a horse with difficulty onto a sand dune. He was stunned for a moment, and then cheered together.
"What happened?"
The people under the dune hurriedly asked: "What happened in front?"
The soldiers above cheered: "It's an oasis!"
Chen Cheng rode on the back of a flaming red horse and looked at the oasis below. The people resting in the oasis were alarmed by the cheers here and were arranging their formation in a panic.
"That day," Chen Cheng shouted down: "There are some people in front, can you persuade them to surrender?"
That day Ri Zhu climbed up with his war horse, looked at the movement in the oasis, and whispered: "They will not surrender unless they are frightened."
"Tsk, I knew that was the case."
Chen Cheng shouted to the soldiers around him: "Blow the rally call immediately and prepare to meet the enemy!"
Eight hundred cavalrymen led their horses over the sand dunes, leaving two hundred men behind to watch the animals.
After taking some time to assemble the team, Chen Cheng loudly said: "Yang Qiu, lead your troops to the left wing, Xu Rong will lead two hundred people to the right wing, everyone else, charge with me!"
The horn of the charge sounded, and the Eight Hundred Cavalry launched a charge in the direction of the oasis under the moonlight. The Eight Hundred Cavalry was not that many, and any medium-sized tribe could pull out more warriors than this. But the Eight Hundred Cavalry were well-trained
The cavalry was not something that the Huns in the oasis, who had rushed to fight and were smaller in number, could withstand.
The land near the oasis was harder than sand, and the speed of the war horses gradually increased. Eight hundred horses were more than 3,000 horse hooves, and the horse hooves kept hitting the ground, causing the Huns in the oasis to let out desperate cries.
Amid the screams of women and the cries of children, the Huns rushed out on bareback horses, brandishing various weapons.
Their courage is commendable, but they rushed to the battle and did not form a queue. Although the queue on Chen Cheng's side was not very dense and neat, it was much better than the opposite party. In just one battle, more than half a hundred Huns screamed.
He fell off his horse. After the remaining Huns rushed out, they did not dare to look back and fled towards the desert.
Chen Cheng did not send anyone to chase him. He just divided his troops to strangle the remaining Huns in the oasis. Resting in this oasis was a small tribe of Huns. They did not have many people and livestock, and their fighting power was not strong. Otherwise, there would be no need.
They have survived deep into the desert. Those powerful tribes all occupy large areas of land with rich water and grass near Shuofang County in Hetao and Meiji, and they will never go to the desert to survive.
It didn't take long for the Huns here to be wiped out. More than a hundred women and children were brought to Chen Cheng. Looking at these crying women and children, Chen Cheng fell into deep thought.
After waiting for a while, Xu Rong asked: "Lord, how should we deal with these people?"
Chen Cheng looked at Yang Qiu, who said carelessly: "Just cut them all off."
Chen Cheng sighed and said, "Forget it, leave them a few injured horses and some food."
Yang Qiu said disapprovingly: "It's a disaster to keep these people alive. It's better to kill them all."
Chen Cheng shook his head and said: "Human heads are not leeks. If you chop them off, they won't grow back. There are only a few people here, so if you kill each one, you'll be better off."
He shouted not far away: "That day!"
Na Ri, who had a round face and bandy legs, jogged up to Chen Cheng, nodded and bowed and said, "Sir, if I have anything to ask you."
Chen Cheng pointed at the women and children and asked: "According to your Huns' rules, what should you do with the captured people from hostile tribes?"
That Ri Zhu said without thinking: "All the noble leaders will be executed, and the others will be merged into the tribe."
"This is similar to the habits of the Wuhuan people," Chen Cheng said: "Then these people will be given to you, but you can't take them away now. Let them wait here for a while. We will wait until we capture Linrong."
When we were in the Hexi camp, we had to keep the soldiers below secret in order not to leak out. But now that they have traveled so far, anyone can guess that they are going to cross the desert to fight the Huns, but they didn't.
Thinking that Chen Cheng was so determined, he wanted to attack Linrong directly.
That day Ri Zhui's eyes widened, and the breath in his nostrils suddenly became thicker. He asked in a huff, "Are you really going to attack Linrong City?"
"Why else are we here? To chew sand?"
Chen Cheng asked: "Are you afraid to go? Or do you have other ideas, so you don't want to go?"
Na Rizhu was startled and waved his hands repeatedly, "Sir, I am loyal to you, how could I have other ideas?"
He said cautiously: "I heard that the new Chanyu moved a lot of gold to Linrong."
That day Zhu Zhu rubbed his hands, his eyes gradually showed a drunken look, and said, "I heard that the golden man who was later recast was also in Linrong, and it weighed several thousand kilograms! If I could snatch it...
.hey-hey........."
Chen Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "You are a Huns!"
That day Zhu Zhu was stunned and asked: "So what?"
"Are you going to do it?"
That day Rizhu became even more confused, "Why don't you take action?"
Chen Cheng smiled and said, "It's nothing. Go and say a few words to those women and children and tell them that we won't kill them, but they shouldn't bring trouble on themselves. I'm just kind-hearted, not soft-hearted."
Na Ri Zhu nodded, walked up to the Hun women and children, and spoke loudly in Hun language. The crying gradually became quieter, and the women and children looked at everything around them with hatred and horror. Suddenly,
A little boy of twelve or thirteen years old shouted and rushed out, stabbing Na Ri Zhu with the dagger in his hand.
"Looking for death!" Na Rizhu was furious, kicked the boy over, drew out his sword, and slashed at the boy's body. The five men he was leading were beside him, and they also roared and drew out the sword.
Weapons chopped the screaming boy into pieces. A Hun woman rushed out screaming and was also hacked to death by Na Ri Zhu and his men.
Chen Cheng's eyelids twitched a few times, and he looked at the bloody scene in front of him silently without any other action. In this era, this kind of thing happens every day, and things more cruel than this often happen.
Yang Qiu, who was beside him, watched with great interest, and even laughed out loud later. The other Huns women and children huddled together, but no one dared to explode.
After a while, Na Ri Zhu put away his weapon and casually wiped it twice on his face to wipe away the blood. A few blood stains could be wiped away, but the smell of blood on his body lingered.
He walked up to Chen Cheng and said respectfully: "Sir, I have made it clear to them."
Chen Cheng nodded and said: "You did a good job. Go over there and pick ten horses as a reward for you."
That Ri Zhu suddenly grinned, showing his mouth full of yellow teeth.
After replenishing drinking water in the oasis and letting his mount drink happily, Chen Cheng asked the soldiers to slaughter the captured animals together with some injured horses. Those who could eat were eaten, and those who could not be eaten were eaten.
After it was cooked, they took it with them on the road. After the army had a full meal, they continued on the road. It was only right to run a few more miles while the moon was shining brightly and the temperature was cool.
In this way, they walked in the desert for three days, rested twice in the oasis, and finally walked out. When the team set foot on the green plain, everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief and were glad that they had moved on from there.
They escaped from the scorching hell. Even the Huns like Na Ri Zhu and the Qiang people like Bali Balshu were the same. Although they were barbarians, they did not like the harsh environment in the desert.
After coming out of the desert, the army moved faster again. Not counting the loss of horses, the cavalry moved very fast and could run more than a hundred miles a day. Because the main force of the Huns did not follow Huvrault.
, even when they were piled up in Beidi County, Shuofang County was extremely empty. Some of the Xiongnu tribes encountered along the way were old, weak, sick and disabled, and they were crushed to pieces by Chen Cheng's troops with a single blow.
Along the way, they lost more than 600 horses, but captured more than a thousand more horses along the way. This was even though they did not clean the battlefield very much. As they approached Linrong, the army slowed down.
, it only covers sixty or seventy miles in one day. This is to allow the horses and soldiers to rest.
By this time, even if the Huns got the news, they would not be able to immediately summon back the main force trapped in the north. Two days later, at sunset, they finally arrived in front of Linrong.
