I'm so thirsty!

Dugu Yanjing looked up, he had never hated the sun so much, there was no cloud caused by the polar eye, and the sky that should have been blue also turned white under the scorching sun. Since the battle of Dunhuang County, the army has gone directly into the vast Gobi, and although they have hired very experienced local guides, it is still difficult to avoid several deserts on the way.

"The general must warn the soldiers that they must control their drinking water, otherwise they will die of thirst in this desert after holding out for less than three days......

The guide is a local Han Chinese, who has acted as a guide for merchants or officials who have traveled from east to west countless times, and knows that the planning of drinking water is the most important. But he also knew that despite his dry mouth over and over again, there would always be many people who did not listen to the advice and died of thirst on the way because they did not plan for water.

Before entering the Gobi, they replenished a large amount of drinking water at the last water source, and as long as the amount of drinking water was controlled, they could completely survive.

Dugu Yanjing has been following behind the guide, and has asked more than once:

"This road is so difficult to walk, how can the supply from the imperial court get by?"

"The imperial court supplies are all taking advantage of the flood season, and the riverbed will be filled with river water for two or three months, and the chariots and horses transporting supplies, including the caravans coming from east to west, are all rushing to pass during this period......"

Following the guide's point, Dugu Yanjing could vaguely identify that there was indeed a riverbed in front of him, but this riverbed had long since dried up and only loess and quicksand remained, and the temperature of the sand on it could even penetrate the thick soles of his shoes.

Seeing that Dugu Yanjing's eyes were full of disbelief, the guide said:

"This is the old road of the Shule River, and it is strange to say that since the Han Dynasty died in the world, the water of the Shule River has also disappeared. Even the famous Yumen Pass had to move hundreds of miles!"

In fact, the situation in the Western Regions is completely different from what Dugu Yanjing imagined, whether it is Yumen Pass or Yangguan, including the four towns of Anxi west of the two passes, all of which are built along the water and grass. Since the beginning of the Han Dynasty, Yumen Pass and Yangguan have controlled two waterways, and anyone who enters Hexi from the Western Regions must follow these two waterways.

And now, with the once waterways dried up, all they can do is follow the hot and dry riverbed all the way west.

The guide made out the direction of their journey by the direction of the sun, and suddenly pointed to the earthen platform in the distance.

"There, that is the hometown of Yumen Pass in the Han Dynasty, after walking west for two days, we will count out the desert!"

If a year ago, Dugu Yanjing was still a gentleman who didn't know the hardships and colds of the world, he would definitely go to the hometown of Yumen Pass in the Han Dynasty to pay his respects to the past, but now all he thinks about is how to bring these more than 5,000 people out of the desert with all their beards and tails.

For this reason, after consulting the guide, Dugu Yanjing established a uniform drinking and rest time, and anyone who violated the rules would be whipped.

However, hunger and thirst can make people lose their minds, and the desire to drink water drives people to desperately raise cowhide water bags and swallow them.

Syllable!

The whip was drawn mercilessly, and the drinker's face and hands were horribly bloodied, and the cowhide water bag fell to the hot sand because of the pain. Precious as gold water gushed out from the mouth of the leather bag, and disappeared in an instant between the crevices of the hot sand......

Another soldier was quick and quickly picked up the cowhide water bag that had fallen on the sand. In any case, water is innocent, and wasting a drop of water can cost a living life.

The soldier who drank water without permission from the horsewhip screamed wolf, and everyone was too frightened to speak. Because he was not the only one who had secretly drunk water, but he was caught and whipped so badly that he was afraid that he would not be able to get out of the desert.

This is not that Dugu Yanjing is very spicy and ruthless, it is completely to kill chickens and monkeys, only by letting these people know that not acting according to the rules is also a dead end, it is possible to deter their desire to drink water secretly. In fact, Dugu Yanjing not only did not persecute them, but saved them. It's a pity that not many people understand this.

Huang Xuan walked over surrounded by a group of soldiers, and Dugu Yanjing hurriedly greeted him. Huang Xuan was originally a team leader of the Shenwu Army, but due to the urgency of the situation, he was urgently recruited by the deputy envoy of Hexi Jiedu and became the soldier and horse envoy of the Shazhou Army under the command of the Hexi Jiedu envoy.

"I hope you can obey the military laws set by Dugu Sima, this person blatantly violates it, which is not only a provocation to military law, but also extremely irresponsible for his own life!"

Huang Xuan is not a person who likes to use force, and even if he uses force, his original intention is to make his subordinates understand that it is beneficial to them.

"It will take at least two days to get out of the vast Gobi Desert, if you don't save on the drinking water you bring with you, some of you are likely to not be able to get out of this Gobi, so ah, although Dugu Sima tried to be strict, it was for you to get out alive!"

In fact, they didn't have to take this road, they could have turned north along the large and small water sources of Yizhou and Tingzhou into Anxi, but that road was obviously a long detour, in order to save time, after some discussion, they chose this close and dangerous path.

Of course, Yizhou, Tingzhou and other places say that there are more water sources, which is also relatively speaking, and in fact, the conditions are also extremely poor.

As a soldier and horse envoy, Huang Xuan not only had to consider the safety of the people and horses to take them out, but also considered how much morale of the soldiers and horses were left. After all, getting out of the Gobi Desert is just the beginning, and relieving the siege of Qiuzi is their goal. That is to say, after getting out of the Gobi Desert, there is still a fierce battle waiting for them.

The effect of the bloody whipping was immediate, and the soldier who had been whipped saw that he would not survive, and his injuries and dehydration had begun to convulse all over his body and foam at the mouth. Huang Xuan squatted down, touched his forehead with his probing hand, pulled his wrist and pressed it on the pulse gate for a while, and finally shook his head and sighed:

"Instead of waiting to die, it's better to give him a good time!"

Dugu Yanjing unexpectedly objected.

"Military law does not allow preferential treatment for the tortured, whether he lives or dies, he deserves it, and if he violates military law, he must pay the price!"

The implication is that even the tragic waiting for death in pain and suffering has become the price paid for violating military law, and everyone can't help but look at each other.

The soldier who was whipped used to be the son of Xun Qi, surnamed Cheng, and many of the children in his family were in the army, and it was of course unwilling to see the children of the clan die so tragically.

"The surname is Dugu, our Cheng family has never treated your family poorly, why are you so vicious......

Dugu Yanjing was expressionless, and coldly interrupted their complaints and threats.

"Military judge, how much should the innocent be whipped?"

Although this sentence was addressed to the military judge who explained the military law, it frightened the people into silence.

They can all see that Dugu Yanjing is a person who does what he says, and in line with the principle that a hero does not suffer immediate losses, he can only endure this breath.

Dugu Yanjing can have such an iron fist today, and it is also due to the experience he has suffered in the past six months, the betrayal of his relatives, the hot and cold world, and people who have experienced many despairs are easy to become hard-hearted. Especially the moment Dugu Lian was frozen to death, there was only boundless cold left in his heart.

Before sunset, the brigade began to camp along a windswept slope, the Gobi was very hot during the day, but it was extremely cold at night, and the slope was chosen to shelter from the wind and cold.

As darkness covered the land, all the soldiers fell asleep from exhaustion and hunger, but the soldiers and horses made Huang Xuan unable to sleep peacefully. He was holding the butter wax that was fighting the flames, and he looked down to study the map of the four towns of Anxi.

"Zhou Jiedu chased ducks to the shelves, I used to be just a team, at most I commanded thirty or fifty people, and now I want to lead five thousand people, dissatisfied with Brother Dugu, I am really full of anxiety!"

Dugu Yanjing said:

"The Soldier and Horse Envoy once served as an instructor in the preparatory school, and he is familiar with the art of war and tactics, but what he lacks is not the practice of leading the troops? Now is the time to practice those art of war and tactics!"

At this point, he changed his mind again.

"In the final analysis, Zhou Mi didn't have a good heart, and treated us all as hot buns for beating dogs, and the soldiers and horses have the origin of the Shenwu Army, even if the soldiers are defeated and die, someone will try to deal with it, and the responsibility will not fall on his head. ”

Although Dugu Yanjing said mean and condemned, it was exactly what Huang Xuan thought of, but his views were more positive and optimistic.

"Since my generation is in the army, my vocation is to fight for the Tang Dynasty, and I know that Qiuzi is trapped in fire and water, no matter what others think, you and I must not let it go!"

Along the way, Huang Xuan's opinion of Dugu Yanjing has gradually changed, don't look at him has many such and such bad deeds, but this person has a sense of mission in his heart that is far different from ordinary people. It's a pity that he was born in a wealthy family, which covered up many of his thoughts and natures. Although after the family was in trouble, Dugu Yanjing suffered unbearable pain for ordinary people, but it was this pain that completely activated his true self hidden under the appearance of the gentleman.

"Zheng Jiedu is not in Qiuzi City, I am afraid that it will be difficult to cooperate with the outside, and now I only hope that there will not be too many Turks besieging the city. ”

Huang Xuandao:

"If we want to besiege the city, at least it will not be less than 20,000, we have already suffered a loss in our long-distance attack, and it is absolutely not feasible to fight more with less. ”

Both of them have their eyes on the place where they must go to Qiuzi, Yanqi!

"If possible, it may be possible to send all the men to Qiuzi ...... with them in the Yanqi False Transmission Festival."

Yanqi should still be in the hands of Anxi* at this time, after all, before the capture of Qiuzi, it is also very risky for the Turgish people to rush into the hinterland of Anxi.