The greatest enemy of desert marching is the climate.

In Gu Qing's eyes, the climate of the desert is even more strange than Huangfu Sisi's temper, and the weather is clear and cloudless, and when he says that he will turn his face, he will turn his face, and he will fly sand and rocks in the dark without warning.

Before the start, Gu Qing specially invited a few more experienced guides, promised a lot of money, 10,000 soldiers and horses were all cavalry, not only that, Gu Qing also brought the extra 5,000 war horses, as well as more than 1,000 camels forcibly bought or rented from the caravan in Qiuzi Town, the whole team had more animals than people, and most of the spare livestock carried food, forage and drinking water.

Nearly 20,000 people of the Anxi army opened the way in front, and Gu Qing's 10,000 soldiers and horses were delayed, this army of soldiers and horses was the richest and most extravagant in the entire Anxi army, like a group of bandits who made a fortune by robbery, and looked directly at the jealous and envious eyes of the Anxi army with their heads held high.

Food and drinking water were carried at the back of the line by horses and camels, and the bulging sacks of grain and the water tanks sewn together with nitrate fur were particularly conspicuous.

Gu Qing deliberately ordered this, and he told the officers and soldiers of the Anxi Army with practical actions, I can't fight a war, and you can't do logistics.

Leaving Qiuzi Town all the way to the east, the army marched along the Chihe River, camped after fifty miles a day, the soldiers of the four towns of Anxi set up a camp together, and the 10,000 left guard soldiers under Gu Qing were ten miles apart and camped.

Scouts who inquired about the military kept coming from the front.

More than 10 days ago, after the Tubo army captured Khotan, the remnants of the defenders who retreated from Khotan, totaling more than 5,000 people, went deep into the desert along the Jade River.

The Tibetan army marched into the depths of the desert on the fifth day, but was nowhere to be found. Countless scouts entered the desert and explored for many days, but they lost the trace of the Tibetan army in the desert, as if they had disappeared into the desert out of thin air.

The desert is too big, the name of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tang Dynasty is "Tulun Moraine", it is the largest desert in China, ranking tenth in the world in later generations, which shows the huge area of the desert.

An army of 30,000 men entered the desert and disappeared into the desert without paying attention, and it was already very difficult to find it again, and it was difficult to even discern the direction in the desert, and it was impossible to find out the enemy's traces.

The news of the loss of the enemy's track really made the whole army quite uneasy.

If you are not afraid of a god-like opponent, you are afraid that you will not even be able to find the trace of your opponent, which adds too much uncertainty to this battle.

On the third night of the camp, when Gao Xianzhi's tent was camping, he beat drums and gathered the generals, and summoned all the generals to the tent to discuss matters.

When Gu Qing walked into the tent, he found that the atmosphere was very solemn, all the generals were gloomy and silent, and when they saw Gu Qing coming in, the generals only scribbled a salute.

The disappearance of the enemy's traces is definitely not a good thing, all of Gao Xianzhi's plans before the battle must be overturned, and the next attack location of the Tubo army can only be guessed by the only clues, and such a guess is too risky, if you guess wrong, the price paid is very high, not only will your own side pounce, but also may be taken advantage of by the enemy to raid unexpected cities, causing serious strategic mistakes.

"Jie Shuai, the last general thinks that at this time, he can only divide his troops and attack!" A general stood up and said awe-inspiringly.

When the generals heard this, they exchanged their heads one after another, some agreed, and some snorted disdainfully.

Gu Qing sat next to Gao Xianzhi, expressionless and silent.

Among this group of battle-hardened generals, Gu Qing is currently only a younger brother, regardless of age or military experience, he is just a younger brother, and the younger brother must have the consciousness of a younger brother, listen more and watch more, and talk less.

Bian Lingcheng on the other side of Gao Xianzhi looked a little haggard, obviously the march in the past few days has been quite hard, the eunuch is missing a part, will it be harder to ride a horse than a normal person, this question is a bit profound, Gu Qing secretly wrote it down, and decided to ask him sincerely before killing Bian Lingcheng in the future.

"Jie Shuai, the last general thinks that the division of troops must not be done! There are 30,000 thieves, our army counts the 10,000 soldiers and horses under the command of Deputy Envoy Gu, and there are only more than 20,000, the fighting power of the Tubo thieves is not weak, and the two sides are already evenly matched. Another general vehemently objected.

The two generals suddenly quarreled in the tent, and the generals stood in their own lines, the quarrel became more and more intense, and the hot-tempered ones had already rolled up their sleeves and were ready to start.

Gao Xianzhi kept his face gloomy and silent, just staring at the map of the Western Regions on the table, his expression was dark and unpredictable, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

At this time, Gao Xianzhi was under great pressure, he was the commander, and the victory and defeat of the whole army were in his thoughts, and the emperor of Chang'an was obviously dissatisfied with him, if this battle did not hand in a beautiful answer, I am afraid that Chang'an's will will come soon, and he will be transferred from Anxi and returned to Chang'an for retirement.

Gao Xianzhi is a general with very strong self-esteem, and he does not want to roll back to Chang'an as a loser.

The key now is the enemy's traces and targets, there are not many cities on the edge of the desert, but there are at least four towns in Anxi, as well as many cities including Xizhou, Tingzhou, and Yizhou, Gao Xianzhi wants to bet on these cities, guess which city the Tubo army may enter the palace, and then send troops.

The difficulty is too great, in case of a wrong guess, Gao Xianzhi's future is over.

Gu Qing had been looking at him silently, very sensibly without saying a word, with Gao Xianzhi's strong character, he didn't need other people's advice at this moment, he only trusted his own judgment.

After a long time, Gao Xianzhi coldly stopped the quarrel between the generals in the tent, and said in a deep voice: "The whole army is camped and prepared by the Red River, and will no longer march tomorrow, send ten teams of scouts, bring enough food and water into the desert, march from all different directions, find out the enemy's traces, and if you encounter a Tibetan thief, you will come back immediately to report." ”

The generals had no choice but to receive their orders.

Gu Qing nodded, it was also a last resort, it was more conservative, but it was very safe.

There was no result in the deliberations, Gao Xianzhi dispersed after giving this military order, Gu Qing rode back to the camp, and after returning to the camp, he immediately summoned Chang Zhong and other four generals.

"How many days can our army's food, forage and drinking water last?" Gu Qing asked.

Chang Zhong thought for a while, and said: "The grain can be used for two months, the forage is slightly less, it can be used for more than a month for the war horses, don't worry about drinking water, let's camp on the Chihe River, it's still summer, the last general asked the guide, the Chihe River water in summer is abundant, and it can be drunk after boiling, and it may dry up in winter......

Gu Qing muttered: "Two months are needed, if you add some more people, one month should be enough for ......"

Chang Zhong said curiously: "What does Master Hou mean ......"

Gu Qing sighed and said, "The scout has come to report that the defenders who have retreated from Khotan City have walked out of the desert and are almost in Qiuci City......

Chang Zhong blinked, and suddenly understood something: "Lord Hou wants this defeated army?" ”

"I heard that there are more than 5,000 defeated troops, quite a few, anyway, Khotan has been lost, and their establishment has also been disrupted, it is better to take them in, no matter how powerful the enemy is in the future, there will be thousands of more soldiers and horses in hand, there are advantages and disadvantages, but it is worth it after weighing." Gu Qing said slowly.

Chang Zhong was puzzled: "This army is newly defeated, it is difficult to boost morale in a short time, and the combat strength is also dangerous, if you encounter the enemy, I am afraid you can't expect them to play much role......"

Gu Qing pondered for a long time and said with a smile: "After all, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, even if you can't count on them, you can't lose anything for a few days, what if this defeated army can still be used after rectification?" ”

Nodding vigorously, Gu Qing said decisively: "Okay, it's decided, General Chang, immediately send someone to Qiuzi City to take over this defeated army, I want these five thousand men!" ”

Gu Qing said yes, Chang Zhong had no choice but to take the order to retreat.

Sitting alone in the tent, Gu Qing stared at the map and studied for a long time, trying to find the real strategic intention of the Tubo army, but after all, he had no experience in fighting, and he didn't come up with a clue for a long time, the desert is so big, there are many cities on the periphery of the desert, and before he knows the strategic intention of Tubo, any city may be attacked by Tubo.

Han Jie quietly walked into the handsome tent and said, "Master Hou, it's time to eat." ”

Gu Qing's gaze moved away from the map, sighed in frustration, and rubbed his temples vigorously with a faint pain.

"Did this Tibetan thief run into the desert and die? What exactly do they want to do? Gu Qing muttered.

Han Jie said softly: "It's not my race, what you do and think is naturally difficult to guess, Tubo is located on the plateau, the real estate is barren, the people are brave and warlike, the Tang Dynasty may be able to suppress their ambitions at the beginning of the founding of the country, but now, the battle between Tubo and the Tang Dynasty is often more victorious and less defeated, and I don't know why it ......."

Then Han Jie said: "But the merchants of Tubo have a gentle temper, maybe they have learned badly from our merchants of the Tang Dynasty, and they are smiling and groaning on their faces, and they are open-minded when they start trading, hehe." ”

Gu Qing's eyes blinked, and there seemed to be a spiritual light in his mind, which appeared and disappeared at once.

"Tibetan merchants?" Gu Qing muttered.

"Master Hou doesn't remember? When we didn't arrive at Qiuci City, we encountered a group of bandits robbing the Tubo caravan on the road, and the Tubo merchants were so grateful that they almost knelt down for Hou Ye, and there were also many Tubo merchants in Qiuci City, and they were still wearing leather robes on hot days, and the strange smell on their bodies almost smoked people to death......

Gu Qing suddenly laughed a few times and said, "The Tubo merchant is good, it's really good, haha......"

Han Jie saw that Gu Qing's expression suddenly became happy, and said puzzledly, "Master Hou, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Send a few well-spoken guards, and immediately leave the camp and go to Qiuci City to find Tubo merchants, especially those who have just entered Qiuci City in recent days."

"Hou Ye means ......"

Gu Qing squinted his eyes and smiled: "The scouts can't find out the movements of the Tubo thief army, but the Tubo merchants are not necessarily, it is impossible for 30,000 soldiers and horses to suddenly enter the army, and there must be preparations and rumors in their Tubo country before sending troops, we don't know their preparations and rumors, maybe the Tubo merchants know." ”