Li Mu wears a black cloak on his shoulders, and hangs the Shangfang Sword, which represents the emperor's authority, on his waist. He has a calm expression and a firm gaze.
"Are you all full?"
"Hey, you're full..." the soldiers said awkwardly.
"I think I haven't eaten enough." Li Mu suppressed his smile.
"Master Marquis," the soldiers were stunned, "we are really full..."
"Speak louder when you're full!"
"You're full!" Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs, their voices rising to the sky.
"That's pretty much it." Li Mu glanced at the soldiers, smiled slightly and said, "It's good that they're all full." After a pause, he said in a deep voice, "This is probably our last full meal..."
"What? What?" There was a bang, and the soldiers who were originally solemn couldn't help but panic when they heard the sound. Some veterans guessed it and turned pale: "Could it be that the food road..."
More people looked at Li Mu nervously, hoping that Mr. Hou was joking with them.
As for the generals such as Su Dingfang, they were even more horrified. I wonder why Li Mu told the truth? If the soldiers knew the true situation, what morale would there be for the army? There was no need for any Turks, let alone Xue Yantuo, to attack. The army itself would
It must be broken!
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Li Mu. There was strong shock, strong confusion, strong doubts, and strong panic in their eyes... If it were an ordinary person who was stared at by these eyes, he would probably directly
He was about to collapse, but Li Mu seemed to be unaware of it, and still said to himself without changing his expression: "I learned yesterday that Xue Yantuo's 100,000 troops were besieging Dingxiang, and our home base was taken away!!"
All the officers and men gasped. If Li Mu had not always loved his soldiers like his own son, commanded with determination, and had high prestige, the officers and men would have been yelling at him lightly, and he might have been torn to pieces.
You know you are running out of food, why don't you save money? Don't you know that there is no food to eat? If you eat too much, it will turn into shit?!
"So, I am here to announce that we have run out of food." Li Mu said as if nothing had happened, "We have two choices now. One is to withdraw our troops. If we withdraw our troops, we will have to face one hundred thousand Xue Yantuo people. Tong'e
That old bastard probably won’t miss this opportunity to get a bargain, how can we persevere if we don’t have food?”
The soldiers all looked at each other, speechless. They never expected that the situation would take a turn for the worse and change so quickly. The heroic division that had been victorious in a row and pursued fiercely would be on the verge of fleeing for their lives in the blink of an eye.
What is more tragic than escaping in an instant is that there is no way to escape at all... As the Marquis said, there is no food in the army and there are chasing troops, so the retreat plan seems completely unfeasible.
Li Mu looked at the expressions of the soldiers and knew that the fire was almost over, so he said loudly: "Fortunately, there is no road ahead, and our scouts discovered Tong'e's hiding place!" "Ah!" the soldiers exclaimed.
In the sound, Li Mu's energetic voice resounded over the camp: "There is an oasis a hundred miles into the desert, called the Typhoon Shelter! It was the hiding place prepared by Tong'e, and he stored a large amount of food and grass in it.
Supplies…”
"The other way is to go into the desert, steal the Turks' grain stores and war horses, and then go around to Xue Yantuo's lair. Let's surround Wei and save Zhao for him!"
When the soldiers first heard that Tong'e had been discovered, their reaction was not very strong. But when they heard Li Mu say that a large amount of food and grass materials were stored in the oasis, they all couldn't hold it in anymore! They were all gearing up, eager to get involved.
Wings flew over, shouting one after another, asking Li Mu to fight: "Master Marquis! Please give the order, we are willing to go straight to the enemy's nest and destroy this imperial food!"
"Yes, Lord Marquis, please give the order! We are already hungry and thirsty!" The soldiers were so excited that they started talking nonsense.
The originally low morale and scattered military morale were suddenly reversed by the news about Li Mu!
The soldiers' blood was racing, they were beating their chests and feet, howling and screaming, eager to set out immediately to kill Tong'e's group to prevent them from wasting their own food.
The entire Tang army already regarded Tong'e's food as their own.
It can be seen that compared with making achievements, getting promoted and making a fortune, the pressure of survival is the first driving force!
Li Mu and Su Dingfang looked at each other and smiled, then sighed: "But the sandstorm is coming. If you enter the desert at this time, you may have a narrow escape!"
"So what, it's better than staying here and dying!" The soldiers didn't care, and shouted loudly: "Even if it's a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, we can get through it!"
"If we get lost in the sandstorm and cannot find Tong'e on time, we will all starve to death in the desert..."
"So what! Instead of dying in vain, it is better to die vigorously and fight for a glimmer of life!" The soldiers were so passionate, how could they care so much?!
"Well said!" Li Mu cheered, "This is my iron-blooded man of the Tang Dynasty!" As he spoke, the smile on his face swept away and was replaced by a solemn one. "I will take you with you.
Charge into the desert, annihilate Tong'e, and fight for a way out!" Li Mu's voice became louder and louder, and every word was filled with infinite determination, gushing out from his mouth and going straight into the hearts of every soldier!
"Even if we die, we must die on the way to kill the enemy, and we must not die on the way to escape!"
"The Tang Dynasty is victorious! Lord Marquis is victorious!"
"Let's go!" Li Mu drew his sword and pointed to the north, toward the boundless desert filled with yellow sand!
The soldiers responded to the order with a bang, and under the leadership of the officers, they mounted their horses one after another and filed out of the camp gate.
Tens of thousands of soldiers of the Tang Army marched more than ten miles north and entered the desert. Not long after entering the desert, an overwhelming sandstorm came raging. Even though the soldiers and horses covered their mouths and noses with cloth covers, they were still beaten so hard that they were sore all over, dizzy, and even unable to do anything.
Open your eyes and see.
But in fact, it doesn't matter whether you open your eyes or not, because the sky and the earth are covered by yellow sand. Even if you open your eyes wide, you can only see clearly one or two feet away. If you go further, the sky and the earth are vast and yellow.
…
The soldiers of the Tang Army basically marched with their eyes closed. Before entering the desert, each of them was given a piece of strong hemp rope. According to the order, they passed the rope through the saddle of the previous horse and tied it to the reins of the second horse. In this way, the war horses
The gourds are connected end to end like a string of gourds. The people behind only need to follow the steps of the people in front without worrying about being left behind because they cannot see the surroundings clearly.
In this way, the people who lead the way at the front have an extremely important responsibility. If they accidentally lead the wrong way, the entire army will follow. And in this desert, taking the wrong way means that the entire army will be annihilated...
…
I believe that before the entire army is annihilated, the soldiers will definitely kill the guide who led the way...
But Li Mu was not worried about this problem. Before the scouts set off, Li Mu gave Wei Fu a "beacon stone". This beacon stone was originally used as a mark for flying pigeons to pass messages, and now it became a navigation. As long as the beacon stone
At the place where Li Mu is, he can see the light spots in the system, and if he follows the light spots, he will never go wrong.
Li Mu took the lead and walked at the front. Su Dingfang blocked the wind on his left. The two of them talked with difficulty against the strong wind.
"Master Marquis, we are quite adventurous this time." Although Su Dingfang was a strong soldier, he still had reservations about Li Mu's insistence on going his own way in such a sandstorm.
"It's all about starving the bold to death and starving the timid to death." Li Mu said nonchalantly. After making the decision, he felt relaxed. He could just face the rest of the matter without worrying anymore.
"Do you think how far we can go in one day by marching like this?" Li Mu asked loudly.
"It depends on the direction of the wind. If the wind blows from the west, we can march at full speed with the wind and we can get there in one day." Su Dingfang frowned and said, "But if the wind direction changes to the northwest, we will not even be able to reach seventy or eighty miles in one day if we work hard.
!" He sighed and said, "The wind direction may be from the west or northwest for a while, but you can't tell for sure."
"Then let's take an average," Li Mu said calmly, "It can take at most a day and a half."
"There is no such calculation..." Su Dingfang said helplessly: "In such weather, the physical strength of the horses is greatly exhausted. Whether they can walk is still a problem?"
"We can definitely get there!" Li Mu said in a deep voice, "Even if the horse is exhausted, I won't care about that much!"
"How can we fight without horses?" Mo Wen frowned.
"In this weather, as long as we reach the oasis, we will win!" Li Mu said firmly.
Seeing that Li Mu had carefully considered the causes and consequences, Su Ding did not ask any more questions, obviously agreeing with his statement. In such a terrible weather, no one could have imagined that the enemy would come to their door. I am afraid that even he would neglect to take precautions and let the soldiers
They went to the tent to take shelter from the wind and sand.
If the enemy comes at this time, there will be no doubt about the outcome...
The army staggered forward in the sandstorm. The war horses were pushed by the wind for a while and had to run. Then they were blocked by the wind. No matter how much they were urged, they could not move forward. Fortunately, many horses were connected together, and the power or strength to move forward together could
Stacking more or less can resist the power of heaven and earth and keep the team moving forward.
The soldiers had to admire the chain of horses created by Li Mu. If the horses had not been tied together, the team would have been scattered countless times, let alone keep moving forward.
Just like this, after an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually darkened, and the soldiers suddenly realized that they had been walking for nearly a day! The power of the spirit was so terrifying that no one thought that they would be in this big sandstorm.
I have been marching for so long!
However, mental strength is not omnipotent. Once they realize that they have been walking for so long, their bodies, which have been numbed by the storm, finally begin to feel the fatigue and hard work that has been accumulated for a long time...
When the sandstorm was big, everyone had difficulty breathing, so naturally they didn't bother to speak and complain. At this time, the sandstorm became smaller intermittently, and some soldiers began to complain: "General, I really can't walk anymore!"
"I'm so tired and hungry that I can't move my whole body..."
Emotions are contagious, and more soldiers began to complain and wanted to stop and take a rest.
"Can't stop!" The generals were also hungry and tired, but they still had to be loyal to their duties and threatened their subordinates: "Once you stop, you will never be able to walk again!"
"Even if we can hold on, the war horses can't hold on anymore. If we keep going, we will have to die from exhaustion." The soldiers added, this is not entirely an excuse. For the cavalry, the war horses are their best brothers. Look,
The soldiers were really distressed as their horses foamed at the mouth and snorted continuously.
"Then get off your horses!" The officers waved their whips and whipped the soldiers on the horses: "You don't let your horses rest even if you know they are tired!"
The soldiers had no choice but to dismount and walk holding the reins.
At this time, the quartermaster also seized the time and began to distribute food along the ranks. Each soldier received a portion. There were two bags in total. One bag contained soybeans and wheat, and the other bag contained Dingxiang specialties, which are called
Dry food for 'instant noodles'.
"Didn't you say there was no food supply?" The soldiers were surprised and happy.
"There's only so much left, you can eat whatever you want."
In fact, there are still military rations, enough to last for half a month. After all, the first batch of military rations has just arrived, how could it be eaten so quickly. But if Li Mu didn't say that, how could the army have the morale to burn through the cauldron? So to be a general, you still have to
A little scheming.
Sure enough, after saying this, the soldiers cherished the only food they had. But they did not eat it themselves in a hurry, but fed the horses first. The cavalry knew in their hearts that in the desert, if the horses were gone, they would
The situation will be even worse. Horses are their brothers and their lives. The soldiers opened the bags one after another. The war horses, which had been hungry for a long time, couldn't wait to get closer and rolled up the beans and wheat in the bags with their red tongues.
The food was very delicious. Seeing the horses enjoying the meal, the soldiers were relieved, but their stomachs were beating like drums, and they felt even hungrier. They broke a piece of bread into pieces, then broke it apart again, and only ate a quarter.
Although they were still hungry, they knew they would never die of hunger.
As long as you don't starve to death, in this case, who dares to expect to be full?
At this time, someone shouted: "Master Hou is here."
The soldiers turned around and looked, and sure enough they saw Li Mu, surrounded by generals, gradually approaching from a distance. It is wrong to say that he was coming, because Li Mu and the generals were standing on the side of the road, facing slowly.
Talk to the advancing team one by one to encourage them.
"Master Marquis! Master Marquis!" When the soldiers came to Li Mu's side, they stopped what they were doing and paid respect to the commander-in-chief.
"No need to be polite, be careful about spreading grain." Li Mu smiled and nodded repeatedly, and loudly said to the soldiers: "There are still twenty miles to go, please hold on! I heard that the Turks are having a feast in the oasis. We can catch up.
If so, you can even give them some wine!"
Su Dingfang and others behind Li Mu couldn't help but sigh to themselves: 'You are really telling lies with your eyes open. The scout found the mark. It is obviously still forty miles away, and he did not take the wrong road...'
But the soldiers were very encouraged. Firstly, there was only forty miles left, which was not too long. They could get there just by gritting their teeth. Secondly, when they heard that the Turks were having a banquet, they became angry. That was all me.
of meat and wine!
"Brothers, work harder! Don't let them eat up all our meat and wine!".
"Ouch!" A burst of enthusiastic responses broke out from the soldiers. The strength came from unknown sources, and the marching speed actually increased instead of decreasing!
In the raging sandstorm, the Tang army continued on its way. Groups of men and horses got into the giant curtain formed by the yellow sand in the sky. Gradually, their figures were covered by the giant curtain and disappeared into the depths of the desert.