Cold, bone-chilling!

At this time, a thick layer of snow fell on the entire Mobei grassland, more than a foot thick, and since they set off from Dingxiang, that day and night, the heavy snow that had stopped was boiling again.

It is still a goose feather like heavy snow, one after another, the whole heaven and the earth, are covered by snow, until the next afternoon, the heavy snow is gradually smaller, but the whole Mobei has become a world of ice and snow.

When it snows, the temperature is not so cold, but when the heavy snow subsides, a burst of cold wind suddenly blows on the entire grassland, rolling the snow foam on the ground and drilling into people's necks.

The layers of clothes worn on the body have all turned into hard armor at this time, sticking to the light armor outside, like a cold iron plate, and in turn, it is consuming the heat of the body.

And Li Jing took Zhao Chen and his party of 3,000 people, in such weather, all the way to the direction of Tuyuhun against the wind, it is not difficult or difficult, because, Zhao Chenjue, these two words cannot be described.

However, snowy days also have the benefits of snowy days, and in such snow, the traces left behind are particularly obvious, especially if Jieli brings a large number of people and horses, the traces can be seen clearly from a distance.

Coming out of Dingxiang City, tracking all the way to Tuyuhun, when it was almost evening, the scouts sent out by Li Jing found the traces left by Jieli, and it was really just as Li Jing analyzed, Jieli led people straight to Tuyuhun.

A very cunning fellow, first leading people north, and then, when the snow began to fall, immediately led people back. All the way to Tuyuhun rushed.

When it comes to familiarity with the grassland, none of the ten Li Jing has a good reputation. Familiarity with the steppe.

Jieli probably expected it early in the morning, after yesterday's heavy snowfall. There will be a bigger heavy snowfall, so this will leave Princess Yicheng behind, and he himself will take people and go north first, and when the snow begins to fall, he will turn back to Tuyuhun.

If it is according to normal logic, Jieli's strategy to confuse the enemy can be regarded as a success. When the Tang army chased north, it happened to encounter heavy snow.

And the heavy snow will cover up his traces, and the military horses of the Tang Dynasty will not find his traces, and will only continue to travel north, while he can continue to go to Tuguhun with confidence and boldness.

It's a pity that the idea is good, but Jieli met Li Jing, the Tang Dynasty general who took an unusual path. Regarding his strategy of confusing the enemy, Li Jing directly ignored it.

didn't even glance north, so he took three thousand elite horsemen and went straight to Tuyuhun.

And the result is. When Jieli went around a big circle and returned to Tuyuhun Road, it happened that Li Jing took Zhao Chen and others. also caught up with the gap between the two sides. It's only a few dozen miles.

However, don't look at these tens of miles away. If it is placed in normal times, these dozens of miles are a journey, let three thousand elites ride there, and it will probably take less than half a day to reach it.

But at this time, the grassland was covered by more than a foot of ice and snow, and the four hooves of the war horse were trapped in more than a foot of thick snow.

So, it was clear that they were only a few dozen miles away from Jieli, but they could only follow from such a distance, chasing forward with difficulty every day.

The wind and snow are becoming more and more raging, and the entire grassland covered by ice and snow, if you listen carefully, it is the howl of ghosts and wolves, and between heaven and earth, the flying snow raised by the cold wind completely blocks the view.

The war horse is already overloaded, this is still under the premise that Zhao Chen's backpack can provide food and grass anytime and anywhere, otherwise, at this time, the entire team of 3,000 people, it is estimated that at this time, let alone chasing Jieli, it is the right thing to turn around and find the army.

The soldiers had already dismounted one after another, leading the overloaded war horses, and hurried in the snow one foot deep and one foot shallow, their bodies and hair were covered with a thick layer of ice and snow.

Zhao Chen felt that he was about to be frozen, and he was staggering on horseback!

He wrapped a blanket around his body, held a stove in his arms, and handed the reins of the horse directly to a wingman, who shrank his head in the blanket and let the war horse drag him away.

However, even so, Zhao Chen felt that he couldn't hold on anymore, and with their current situation, they had caught up with Jieli, so what?

Starting from Dingxiang City, it has been a three-day journey, during which there have been several intermittent snowfalls on the grassland, and in the evening of this day, Zhao Chen said to Li Jing: "Boss, it's really not good!" ”

When Zhao Chen said this, the team had stopped at a shelter, and the soldiers were shoveling up the snow according to Zhao Chen's teaching, piling it up into a large snowdrift, and then digging out a snow hole under the snowdrift, which was a simple snow house.

The tent that the army needs, in fact, is in Zhao Chen's space, but in this ghost weather, the time to set up a tent far exceeds the time to rest.

Jieli will rest for one night, so everyone has to take advantage of this time to take a break, otherwise, the next day's full day of travel will not be a joke.

"No way!" Li Jing stood beside his mount, his hair and beard were full of ice ballast, and when he spoke, his mouth was spraying hot air, and he said in a resolute tone: "The old man also wants to stop and take a good rest, but Jieli doesn't wait for you!" ”

Without waiting for Zhao Chen to speak, Li Jing then said: "However, the old man guesses that this kind of ghost weather, Jieli is almost unable to hold on!" ”

When Zhao Chen heard Li Jing's words, he nodded in agreement, no matter how familiar Jieli was with the grassland, there was one thing that he would never be able to compare to them, that is, the transportation of grain and grass.

According to the news from the scouts, there were seven or eight thousand people in Jieli and his party, and these seven or eight thousand people had to eat and drink along the way, and food and grass were the biggest problem.

However, the Turks were born in nomadic herding, and the grain and grass were cattle and sheep, so they rushed there wherever they went, but because of this, in this ghost weather, they drove a large group of cattle and sheep, and you can imagine how difficult it was.

Following along the way, Zhao Chen found that the Turks threw down a lot of frozen cattle and sheep along the way, and the Turks did not eat the dead cattle and sheep, so these thrown cattle and sheep just happened to be cheaper than the Tang army behind.

It's just that this day followed, but there were no frozen cattle and sheep left on the road, which is naturally not because there are no more frozen cattle and sheep, but because Jieli has reached the point where he can't take into account the old Turkic customs.

And this is the reason why Li Jing judged that Jieli would stop in the next few days!

Zhao Chen stood there, talking to Li Jing, a camp completely composed of snow huts, had already been arranged, piled up there, it looked a little weird, but it was very practical.

After eating something hastily, Zhao Chen went back to his snow cave, spread a blanket in the snow cave, wrapped himself tightly, listened to the sound of the wind and snow like ghosts crying wolves outside, and fell asleep deeply.

There was nothing to say all night, and when it was dawn the next day, when Zhao Chen crawled out of the snow cave, there was a heavy snow full of swan feathers, falling from the sky one after another, covering the sight of the entire heaven and earth.

And when Zhao Chen crawled out of the snow cave, almost all the people had already gotten up, and at this time, they were standing at the door of the snow cave, looking at the direction where the scout had returned.

Since catching up with Jieli's pace, Li Jing slowed down, fell far behind Jieli, and sent scouts to keep an eye on Jieli every day, as long as Jieli moved, they would immediately follow.

"Will Jieli be in a hurry in this weather?" After breakfast, seeing that the scout had not returned, Zhao Chen came to Li Jing's snow cave wrapped in a blanket, frowned at the heavy snow outside the cave, and said as if he was talking to himself.

"No!" Li Jing was holding the telegram just sent by Baiqi in his hand, and was frowning at the content on it, and when he heard Zhao Chen's words, he immediately said without raising his head.

"I guess too!" When Zhao Chen heard this, he suddenly sighed, and when he turned around, he looked at the telegram in Li Jing's hand and asked, "How many days will the British Duke arrive?" ”

This telegram was sent by Li Ji, and when Zhao Chen just came in, he happened to meet the people of the hundred horsemen, so at this time, he looked at Li Jing and asked.

"The snow on the road is too thick for the army to catch up!" After reading the telegram, Li Jing carefully put it into a box and carefully sealed it, then looked at Zhao Chen and said: "Therefore, the British Duke only brought five hundred horsemen, and the army was left halfway!" ”

When Zhao Chen heard this, the expression on his face couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then he nodded in understanding.

Li Ji's Eastern Route Army has more than 10,000 people, including auxiliary soldiers, at least 10,000 or 20,000 people, and 10,000 or 20,000 people of grain and grass are not a small amount.

When the two were talking in the snow cave, time was also passing quietly, and almost half an hour later, there was a sudden commotion outside, hearing this sound, Zhao Chen and Li Jing in the snow cave suddenly raised their heads and glanced at each other this time.

The scout sent out to monitor Jieli has returned, and next, whether to leave or stay, depends on the news that the scout has brought back.

After waiting for a short time, outside Li Jing's snow cave, sure enough, the scout figure who was sent out appeared.

The whole person was frozen like a snow sculpture, his hands and feet stiffly faced Zhao Chen and Li Jing, bowed slightly, and then reported the situation on Jieli's side, 1510.

Jieli really didn't leave, it was almost noon at this time, but there was still no sign of pulling out the camp in the Turkic camp, which only showed that Jieli had also given up on the road.

"Pass the old man's order, and the army will be stationed in place!" After listening to the scout's report, Li Jing's tense face couldn't help but secretly relax, and then immediately conveyed the order.

Li Jing's order was immediately conveyed, and when Zhao Chen was still sitting in Li Jing's snow cave, there was a sudden burst of loud cheers in the camp outside.

Li Jing and Zhao Chen in the snow cave, listening to the cheers coming from outside, almost at the same time, couldn't help but sigh. (To be continued.) )