Chapter four hundred and eighteen water replenishment
Even so, the Qin army was lightly armed during this trip and removed many dispensable equipment.
For example, the spearmen, sword and shield soldiers originally carried a bow and several quivers with them, but now they are all cancelled, and all are replaced by dry food and water.
Except for the reconnaissance cavalry, all the cavalry dismounted and walked. What was hunched over on the horse's back were water bags filled with water.
One reason for doing this is to consider that it is unlikely to encounter the Huns cavalry in the early stage.
And even if they encounter the Huns cavalry, they are still prepared. Once the cavalry receives a warning from the scout cavalry, they only need to loosen the water bag on the horse's back and flip it to the ground, and then mount the horse to fight.
On the other hand, the first thing the war horse troops consume is the supplies carried by the war horses, so it won't take long for the war horses to be "liberated".
Dry food is mainly what is called "Nan" in the Yuezhi people, and the Qin people call it "Hu cake", which means the cake made by the Hu people.
Hu cake should be said to be the best and most convenient food when traveling long distances in the desert and water-scarce Gobi.
On the one hand, it can be stored for a long time and is easy to carry.
At the same time, it also contains a certain amount of water... Fried flour is also easy to carry and small in size, but it is completely dry-fried. If it is used as dry food, it will obviously consume a lot of water, and it will be extremely difficult to swallow when there is a lack of water.
What's more important is that Hu Cake is nutritious. When making it, you not only need to put oil, eggs, sugar, salt and other raw materials, but also sprinkle some "Siyadan" on the surface.
The so-called "Si Yadan" are black grass seeds unique to the Western Regions, which are very similar to black sesame seeds.
Shen Bing believes that this is mainly to supplement vitamins.
Finally, we caught up with 10,000 "Altay sheep" unique to the Western Regions.
This kind of sheep is unique to the Western Regions. Its advantage is that its limbs are strong and muscular. It can not only travel long distances, but also endure hunger and thirst, resist severe cold, heat and heat, and has strong disease resistance.
They can survive by gnawing some hay they encounter on the road. If they starve to death, they can use it as food to supplement their army rations that night.
After making these preparations, the army set off in great force.
The first few days were fine. Although there was no water, we could occasionally see weeds on the road.
From the third day on, there was endless yellow sand, and the temperature kept rising as soon as the scorching sun hit it. It felt like an iron pot under my feet.
Ting Yan introduced that this desert is called "Kumtag", which means "Sand Mountain".
This name is quite appropriate, because everywhere you look there are mountains made of sand. The Qin army went around and around the foot of the mountains, and sometimes had to climb over the mountains... So on the map, the distance between Shazhou and Loulan is
It doesn't look that far, but it's actually much farther.
The journey was uneventful, but when we arrived at the first water replenishment point on the thirteenth day of the march, we found that the place had been poisoned by the Huns. The water was full of fish with their white bellies turned over, and there were some people who died of poisoned drinking water around them.
animal.
This was already expected by the Qin army.
Because what this battle is fighting for is water sources, including the Qin army's intention to capture Loulan.
The Xiongnu wanted to make the Qin army unable to attack the city as much as possible, so of course they had to prevent the Qin army from replenishing water.
Li Yan asked Shen Bing worriedly:
"General, if the second water replenishment point mentioned by Yan is also poisoned by the Huns..."
This is the shortcoming of attacking Loulan.
Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Although attacking Loulan can make the supply line safer and face fewer enemies, the problem is that the march and supply line are too long...1,500 miles.
The Qin army had tried every means, but the water they could bring could only last for thirty days, and this was based on the minimum ration.
If calculated at fifty miles per day, this amount of water would be enough to allow the Qin army to walk out of the desert.
But what about after leaving the desert?
Can the Qin army, which is short of water, capture Loulan immediately?
Or would the Qin army, which was already exhausted and aware of the lack of drinking water, still have the ability to capture Loulan?
If not, what awaits the Qin army is likely to be annihilation, even if it has artillery.
So it is particularly important to have a hydration point along the way.
This is not only a matter of physical fitness, but also related to the morale of the Qin army.
Shen Bing was also a little worried, so he called for the doctor.
Shen Bing didn't ask Yan whether he was sure that the second water replenishment point was safe or not, because Yan couldn't be sure either.
He just said that the second water replenishing point is relatively secret. Not many people even know about it in the Western Region. The reason is that it is a small amount of water seeping out of the rocks in a cliff and broken valley, and it has dried up before it flows out of the valley. There is no You can't even find it if you dig deep into it.
But at this time, the Xiongnu had full control over Gu Shi and Loulan, especially Loulan... Loulan was closer to the water replenishment point, so the people must know more.
What if the Xiongnu knew about this water replenishment point from the people of Loulan?
I can't be sure of this.
So Shen Bing directly ordered:
"You immediately take Pu Leijun to the second water replenishment point to check the situation!"
"If the Huns don't find it, then protect them around. Otherwise, report back immediately!"
The emperor agreed, led a thousand soldiers, brought water and food, and set off.
After Yan Yi walked away, Shen Bing thought about it and asked Ren to catch up with Yan and explained:
"Secret report!"
Although there are only two words, Yan understands the meaning.
Shen Bing was worried that if the second water replenishment point was also destroyed by the Huns, it would affect morale.
The result is that whatever you worry about will come to you.
Just when Shen Bing and his party were heading to Loulan, he sent a messenger to hand the secret letter to Shen Bing personally.
It turned out that the second water replenishment point was also discovered by the Huns, who had people seal the water replenishment valley with rocks.
Shen Bing just glanced at it, then nodded to the messenger and ordered:
"Very good, you go back and tell the captain to guard the water source and don't let the Huns make mistakes!"
The messenger was confused for a while, but under Shen Bing's gaze, he still answered, and then returned the same way.
Li Yan asked:
"General, is there something wrong with the water supply?"
Shen Bing replied:
"We only encountered a small number of Huns, but fortunately the captain has repelled them!"
"You immediately send a thousand sergeants to respond."
Li Yan responded, and then assigned a thousand infantry to look for Yan's troops.
At the same time, Shen Bing issued an order with great fanfare:
"The water replenishment point is under the control of our army, and our army has no worries about replenishing water!"
"Speed up and hurry up and take down Loulan with all your strength!"
The soldiers responded enthusiastically and headed towards Loulan with confidence.
Shen Bing may be lying to them, but sometimes you have to do this on the battlefield, because it is not a good thing to let them know the truth at this time.
What's more, Shen Bing believed that the water carried by the Qin army was enough...
The desert is hot during the day and cold at night. As long as you plan to avoid marching during the hottest period and march for a few more hours at night, you will have more supplies when you arrive at Loulan.
At that time, it will be seen how long the Loulan City Wall can withstand the artillery of the Qin Army.