Huo Quai's words made Yang Pingfan shake his head, "For the generals, it's not wrong to kill decisively, but you also have to understand why you moved, it's not that your subordinates say a few words that you don't like to hear, you have to kill them, you have to remember that these soldiers are all people, not pawns on the chessboard, they have their own ideas, if they want to order and prohibit, they must be gracious and powerful, and they must convince everyone, and now you want to kill these military marquis because of a few words, who will bring you troops?"

Huo Qubing seemed to understand whether he understood or not, and the reason that the master said was still weak for his competitive young man's heart, but he couldn't think of a rebuttal, so he was unhappy, and whipped it on the horse's buttocks, galloped the horse, and the horse under his crotch rolled up a puff of smoke and dust like a swimming dragon, and went away.

Riding is not a talent, practice makes perfect, the Huns grew up on horseback since childhood, and they can shoot rabbits with small bows and arrows at the age of five or six, but how can the Han family have this condition, at most they have ridden cattle when they were children, in addition, even the cavalry came into contact with war horses after enlistment, and the riding skills can be compared to the Huns.

But Huo Quai's living environment is very superior, the boy has been learning to ride a horse with his uncle since he was a child, and his kung fu is not bad, the half-hung cavalry don't know that the main general has a temper, but they only see that he is superb in riding, skilled in bows and horses, not a noble son who is powerless in his imagination, and the trip he swore just now is just a practice, so a heart is put back in his stomach.

The night passed, the freshness of Huo Quai's illness also passed, the sequelae of riding on horseback for a long time came out, his delicate ass was blistered by the saddle, and the sides of his thighs were also red and swollen, and the march was extremely hard, not to mention the wind and sand, and the food was also poor, just to be full.

The life of the soldiers was very hard, even if they were stationed in the camp, they only ate some corn porridge, flour cakes and pickles, occasionally some melons and fruits, and dried meat to taste a taste, only before the expedition and after the great victory there was a fresh wine and meat reward, and there was very little intake of animal protein on weekdays, and when the army was marching and fighting, they could not even eat hot rice, only dry and hard dead flour cakes and pickles that could be stored hard.

The dead dough cake is made with water and noodles, the dough is kneaded into a cake shape, pasted on a hot pot, and it is blanched, there is no yeast, no sugar, and no eggs, it is dry, hard and hard to chew, and the taste is coarse, and the only function is to be full and hungry.

As for military pickles, it is not the so-called pickled dishes in later generations, but take a foot of coarse cloth, soak it in a liter of old vinegar, expose it, cut it into an inch long length, put the vinegar cloth in the mouth and chew it dry, so as to increase appetite, or use three liters of tempeh to pound into a paste, add five liters of salt and twist it into a cake, dry it, and eat a piece as big as a jujube core for a meal.

Such a coarse food, soaked in a honey pot from the bottom, Huo Quai, who grew up in brocade clothes and jade food, was really difficult to swallow, he deduced that he was not hungry, and he did not eat a mouthful of dry food, but the sound of grumbling in his stomach betrayed him.

If you don't eat, then drink water, Huo Quzhi greeted him, and the soldiers handed over the water bladder, Huo Quzhi took a sip and vomited: "What kind of water is this?"

"Pond water. ”

The soldiers replied that the well water brought from the camp had been drunk, and that the water bladder was now filled with water from the oasis pond.

Huo Quzhi recalled the small pond they had passed by before, this pond was a place for wild horses, wild asses and wild camels to drink water on weekdays, the water was turbid, and there was camel dung floating there, it was strange that it could be delicious, he didn't even dare to continue thinking about it, because he was so disgusting that he was about to vomit.

"How can people drink this kind of water, it's not worth washing their faces!"

Huo Quzhi asked, as soon as these words came out, countless eyes were cast around, and the soldiers had chapped lips, dark faces, and dirty hands holding flour cakes, carefully drinking precious water, this small pond could not supply eight hundred cavalry, more than two thousand horses to drink, it was already rare to be able to drink a sip of water.

"Give them a reward. ”

Huo Qu was ill and weak, he finally knew the hardships of fighting, this was just a march, and he didn't encounter the Huns.

But he would rather die of thirst than drink water that smells of camel dung.

A big gourd was handed in front of him, and Huo Quzhi raised his eyes to see that it was the teacher's gentle eyes.

"I said, don't drink it. Huo Qu said sickly.

The gourd pulled out the stopper, and a sweet smell came to my nose, it was rice wine.

"Where did you get the rice wine?" Huo Qu was overjoyed, took the gourd and drank a big sip, still unsatisfied, and drank a few more sips, then he remembered the teacher.

"Teacher, please!" Huo Quzhi dedicated his gourd hands to Yang Pingfan.

Yang Pingfan shook his head and said in the direction of the crowd, "Share weal and woe with the soldiers, and win the hearts of the army." ”

Huo Qu was a little sick, and asked the soldiers to take a gourd to reward those veterans with a sip, and sure enough, the harvest was jubilant, although there was very little wine, and there were only a dozen military marquis who could be stained, but a general who was willing to share wine with his subordinates was always welcome.

Yang Pingfan took out a golden roast leg of lamb from the sleeve of his robe, Huo Qu was salivating, took the leg of lamb and feasted on it, and finally filled his stomach. qq

The 800 cavalry continued to march north after a full meal, and the soldiers were full of suspicions, and they were going forward to be the territory of the Huns, in case they encountered the Hun scouts, and then attracted the enemy's army, these 800 lives had to stay here.

A few war horses approached Huo Quai, and the military marquis persuaded bitterly: "Lord Captain, there is no road any further, go deep into the desert, you can't find a water source, and you are dying of thirst." ”

Huo Quzhi pointed with a horsewhip: "There is a Fuquan fifty miles away." ”

The military marquis looked at each other, this is too casual, the spring oasis in the desert is very rare, and there are few references on the surface, only the most experienced guides can accurately find the water source on the way, but that is limited to the road that has been explored, but the road that Huo Quzhi took is completely a new road without traces of herders, just imagine, how can there be a water source in an area that even shepherds dare not go into.

However, the captain swore that he would collect his troops and return to the camp if he could not find a water source, and the marquis had no choice but to persuade the soldiers that the procession had gone forward for another fifty miles.

The oasis was very small, with only a dozen trees, a clump of green grass and a pond with a radius of no more than thirty paces, but fortunately this pond was connected to the underground river, and it did not dry up no matter how much it was drunk, and the eight hundred soldiers were full of water, and the cattle were also full, and even the water bladder was full, and when the night came, before setting off again, everyone settled the dinner on horseback.

But the unexpected happened.

Although this oasis is small, the water source is very sufficient, the Han army can find it, and the Huns who have been nomadic in the desert can naturally find it, just when the eight hundred cavalry were full of food and ready to rest, the scouts who were scouting on the periphery came with the news that a tribe had discovered them!

This matter is not trivial, Huo Qubing immediately ordered to arrest all of them, not one is allowed to go, the cavalry heard the sound, scattered, and launched a siege and interception of this tribe that was ready to come to replenish water, and in less than half an hour, they were all taken down.

It was a small tribe of hundreds of people, only a dozen in the prime of life, and the rest were all old and weak women and children, all of them with dark faces and an unpleasant smell, driving hundreds of sheep, cowering and huddled together.

It is easy to capture, but how to deal with this group of captives is the most tricky thing, Huo Qubing couldn't make up his mind, and found Yang Pingfan again, "Teacher, how should this matter be handled?"

Yang Pingfan looked at the captives, and instead of answering Huo Quai, he asked another question, "How about the casualties?"

"None of our troops suffered any casualties, and thirteen of them were killed. ”

Huo Quzhi was a little proud, although it was a knife to kill chickens, but after all, it was the first time in his life that he commanded the troops to win a battle, and he was still a little excited.

"Tell me what you want to do with them?" Yang Pingfan asked Huo Quai, Huo Quzhi was stunned for a moment, and he didn't make a sound when he muttered in his mouth.

"I know you have a plan in mind, just say it, don't worry about anything. ”

Huo Quzhi took a deep breath, "I have three strategies, one is to let them go and treat them as if nothing happened, the second is to tie them up here and come back and release them when we win the battle, and the third is to ...... The third is to kill them all!"

Yang Pingfan waited until Huo Quzhi said the third plan, and then a flash of appreciation flashed in his eyes, "We are now a surprise attack, pay attention to the concealment of whereabouts, once the whereabouts are exposed, the eight hundred cavalry in the desert will face boundless encirclement and suppression, you are the main general, the strategy is still your decision in the end, I can only give you a staff officer, if you can't make up your mind, look at the eyes of the captives, remember the words of the teacher, Ci is not in charge of the army." ”

Yang Pingfan's words made Huo Quzhi fall into deep thought, for a long time, a low whimper pulled his thoughts back, he looked up, the voice came from the group of prisoners, the captives looked frightened, but in addition to the horror, looking at the Han army, there was bitter hatred, gritted teeth hatred and murderous aura.

Cut off the heads of other people's relatives, and you still want people to keep secrets?

For the first time, a seventeen-year-old boy replaced a heart made of flesh with heavy, cold iron.

Back in the camp, Huo Quzhi had no appetite, but his stomach protested loudly, Yang Pingfan took out a pot of rice wine and a roast leg of mutton in general, Huo Quzhi finally realized that the teacher did have immortal skills, not only can accurately find the water source, but also conjure up wine and meat out of thin air.

"Master, can you conjure up a little more, so that all the soldiers of the army can eat meat and drink wine. Huo Qubing was full of expectations, but the answer he got was no.

"As a teacher, mana is limited, and you can only take care of your own food and drink. Yang Pingfan said.

The wine and meat were not conjured up by him, but bought from the city of Hedong County, thousands of miles away, the quantity was small, it was okay, it was difficult for him to bring eight hundred leg of mutton, as for the search for water source, as long as he flew high in the air and looked, the oasis within a radius of a hundred miles was in full view, and there was no possibility of getting lost.

This time, Huo Quzhi learned wisely, shared the wine and meat with the soldiers, and asked the teacher again, what to do next.