Li Yanzhi led the army out of the customs for two more days, and then arrived at the legendary Bailongdui. This is a saline-alkali soil platform group around the Prison Lanhai. It stretches for more than 200 miles. When the sun shines on the earth platform composed of these saline-alkali land, it will reflect a little silver light, just like the reflection of the scales on the white dragon lying on the ground, hence the name White Dragon Hei.

After marching in the desert for more than two days, even though Li Yanzhi had made full preparations and prepared enough fresh water, his soldiers still felt very difficult. Li Yanzhi led the army to detour from the north side of Bailongdui and advance westward along the ancient Silk Road. It's September, but the heat is still raging in the desert. The amount of baggage carried by this army was quite huge, and the march in one day was only more than 30 miles.

Li Bai gave Li Yanzhi ten guides in the army. Under the guidance of these guides, more than 300 horsemen took the lead in traveling, circumambulating Bailongdui and heading towards the Beihe River, which flows into the Prison Lanhai. The amount of drinking water required by livestock is enormous. If the cavalry were to be ordered to advance with the brigade, it was likely that the fresh water carried by the army would have been exhausted before they reached the predetermined area.

Even if the cavalry was the first to advance, there were still a large number of mules and horses used to carry baggage and pull carts in the rest of the army. However, after saving more than 600 healthy horses used by the cavalry, it was estimated that the fresh water carried by the expedition should be enough for these subordinates to support them to reach the boundary of the Beihe territory.

In September, the climate in the desert is also unpredictable. During the day, the wind and sand were all in the sky, and the armor worn by the soldiers was covered with a thick layer of sand in the wind and sand. Everyone was disgraced and embarrassed.

When night fell, the soldiers set up a simple camp on the leeward side of the dunes, and Li Yanzhi shuttled through the camp to set up tents with the soldiers, and soon a personal guard carried a basin of water to Li Yanzhi's side.

"Master book, wash it." The soldier who came with the water held the basin and persuaded him.

Li Yanzhi looked at the basin. I saw that the water in the basin was crystal clear. I couldn't help frowning.

"Nowadays, there are not enough people to quote them, why are they so extravagant, holding water to wash?" Li Yanzhi looked at the guard holding the basin and said lightly.

Unexpectedly, Li Yanzhi reprimanded, and he was suddenly a little at a loss. Li Yanzhi looked at his expression, but he couldn't bear to be harsh, waved his hand and said, "Put this water in the tent, and let the soldiers take it for drinking later." ”

Looking at the guards carrying the basin into the tent, Li Yanzhi raised his head, looked around at the surrounding cadres, and said loudly: "Pass on my general order, from today onwards, all the fresh water carried in the baggage can only be used as drinking!" If there is any other wasteful action, no matter the general, it will be twenty rods! ”

With a gray face, Liu Jiwu, who was shuttling around the temporary camp, also nodded secretly after hearing this military order.

Looking out from the camp, you can see a long stretch of yellow sand. There may be sporadic sea buckthorn grass in the middle of the sand, which is also like a few stars, which is quite conspicuous in this desolation. Due to the lack of timber around the camp, it was not possible to erect a fence according to the traditional method of building a camp. After meeting and discussing in a hurry, the generals decided to scatter sentry horses in all directions, and set up sentry posts in layers to prevent any possible surprise attack by the enemy.

"Camping at night, generals are forbidden to disarm! Weapons must not be left for a moment! If there is an order to assemble, it is limited to half a moment, and those who do not arrive will be killed! Shocking the army for no reason, those who call for a run are killed! ”

It was getting dark, and the temperature plummeted. Fortunately, the soldiers have prepared all the quilts and warm clothes, so that they will not freeze in such a dangerous environment. Li Yanzhi repeatedly inspected the camp several times, and saw that the guards on duty were faithfully performing their duties, so he was relieved.

Trekking in the desert is a great test of will and physical strength. Although Li Yanzhi has been riding a horse, he also feels sleepy. He returned to his tent, and in a short time lay down on the haystack laid in the tent, and fell asleep.

After another seven days of arduous trekking, the Lingju County army bypassed Bailongdui and arrived at the mouth of the Beihe River, which flows into the Prison Lanhai. The armies marched along the river, and after another twelve or thirteen miles, the simple camp built by the cavalry soldiers here came into view.

After several days of rushing work, the simple camp built by Tao Heng was enough for more than 2,000 people to live. The tired foot soldiers and auxiliaries marched into the camp one after another, and hastily arranged to divide the quarters of each battalion, and these soldiers arrived at their respective camps and settled under the arrangements of their respective generals. In addition to the soldiers on duty and guarding, Li Yanzhi specially ordered all battalions to rest for half a day. The soldiers unloaded their robes and lay down on rough hay beds to make up for sleep. However, the generals of each battalion came to the big tent to discuss the next move of the troops.

Tao Heng first reported the situation of the sentry cavalry going out to reconnoitre. If the captain of Wuji stationed in Gaochang on the north side wants to cross the mountains and come to support Haitou, there are about four mountain roads that can be taken. It passes through the east side of the mountain range and is about 300 miles long. The exit is located in the east of the Prison Lanhai, and after going out of the mountain, it is the inaccessible Bailongdui; The second is the nearest passage across the mountain range, from Gaochang out of the city, about fifty miles south can enter the mountain, two hundred miles through the mountain range, out of the mountain pass at the moment less than twenty miles north of the front of the cavalry camp.

The other two access roads should be from the west of Gaochang, and both need to take a detour. The total length of the mountain range is also 300 miles away. Looking at the four pathways marked on the map, Li Yanzhi was also unable to make a decision for a while.

The westernmost passage was first denied by Li Yanzhi. If you come from this passage, not to mention the detour, you will still have to face the obstruction of your own part and the obstruction of the North River after you go out of the mountain. Among the remaining three, it seems that each of them may become the passage of Zhao Zhen's department, but it makes Li Yanzhi feel difficult.

The second passage on the west side, according to a guide, shows that in the center there are several mountain streams flowing through the bald valleys, which eventually merge into the North River as the mountains go along. The mountain road in the middle is the nearest passage, the easternmost one, although the terrain is treacherous, there is no water source, but it can pass through the white dragon pile, straight behind himself, and form an interception of Li Bai's part attacking the seahead.

Although from their own experience and judgment, it is very likely that the enemy will eventually choose the eastern or intermediate passageway. But Li Yanzhi still didn't dare to be careless. The military council still instructed Tao Heng's cavalry to go to various places to establish outposts. After confirming the enemy's movements, the troops will be dispatched.

After staying in the temporary camp for a day, Li Yanzhi received a communication from Li Bai who had sent a herald horseman. Li Baiyan himself had led his troops west out of Yangguan, and after a few days of marching, he arrived near Haitou to build a fortification, and began to build siege equipment, etc., preparing to conquer Haitou, which was weakly defended, in one fell swoop.

Li Yanzhi replied to the letter, informing Li Bai of the situation on the northern front, talking about the current movements of the enemy army, explaining his own ideas, and emphasizing that under the conscientious and conscientious reconnaissance of the cavalry, all the movements of the enemy army were under control.

Since Haikou has already boasted, Li Yanzhi is also ruthless. He ordered Tao Heng to divide the most experienced team of 100 horsemen into five groups, with one man and one horse in each group. Each of them carried ten days' dry rations, and when they were sentinel, they must go more than 200 miles forward to get close to Gaochang to reconnoiter the enemy's movements. And in that incomparably desolate mountain range, every road is also sent to send cavalry to monitor and reconnoitre.

A few days later, a group of cavalry soldiers who arrived in Gaochang reported that the Gaochang garrison, numbering more than 5,000, had left the city and entered the mountain along the second passage on the east side, and drove straight in, apparently planning to go to support Haitou. This support army traveled day and night, and the speed of marching in a day could reach fifty miles, even in the rocky and desolate mountains.

Li Yanzhi slapped the map on the simple case with his right hand, looked around at the generals of the battalions who participated in the military discussion, and said with great excitement: "Gentlemen, Zhao Zhen does not want to lose the head of the sea, and has led the army to dispatch. I'm going to keep it firmly north of the North River! Even if I am alone and unable to annihilate the enemy, after Li Changshi captures Haitou, he will definitely send elite soldiers to help! ”

"At that time, it will be the end of Zhao Zhen!" Li Yanzhi took a small flag next to the case and planted it outside the valley mouth of the second passage on the left side of the map.

"At the speed of the enemy's march, we can get here in three days. Please Tao Bairen will send cavalry to report to Li Changshi. The rest of the battalions were ready. I'll let this place be—"

"Turn into Zhao Zhen's grave!" Li Yanzhi took a few cases and said coldly. Seeing that he was so resolute, the generals also hugged their fists and took their orders.

From Li Yanzhi's personal point of view, he doesn't have any good feelings for Zhao Zhen, nor does he have any bad feelings. It's just that this person's behavior of standing on his own feet in the Western Regions, cutting off trade routes, and splitting the territory made Li Yanzhi feel particularly disdainful.

Now the Central Plains is swinging, and the Han family is dressed in the south. In this traditional Chinese gathering circle, in the land that has been bred for more than 2,000 years since the beginning of Yan and Huang, the alien races led by Hu Xuan are leading beasts to eat people all the time. And Zhao Zhen not only did not think of going east to restore the country, but instead cut off his own position in a corner of the Western Regions and cut off the trade route. This is what makes Li Yanzhi the most unhappy.

You must know that if the Silk Road is smooth, the cattle, sheep and horses abundant in Liangzhou can be sold to the Western Regions and Central Asian countries from the trade routes, thus bringing countless goods to Liangzhou. The commercial taxes levied at various checkpoints on the Silk Road were also able to provide Liangzhou with a strong military force. And this is the basis for Liangzhou to be able to advance eastward, expel Hu Lu, and rescue a large number of Han children who are struggling in dire straits.

Now that the Silk Road is broken, and the state ruler is a great and strategic, vowing to recover the Western Regions, as the general of Liangzhou, Li Yanzhi is naturally very willing to open up this trade route. If the county magistrates headed by the Xin clan had a trade route to rely on, they could naturally rely on this trade route to make a fortune. Li Yanzhi naturally believes that he can get a little benefit from this dredged trade route.

The matter of raising soldiers is to waste money everywhere. The two million money earned from the sale of military merits before was less than half after the bereavement pension was distributed and a military armament was built. Rao is like this, and there are only more than 2,000 soldiers under his command. If you want to raise tens of thousands of soldiers, that expense is like running water. With Li Yanzhi's current financial resources, it is naturally far from the same.

The battalion soldiers are now preparing in the camp. Sharpen knives, carry arrows, prepare supplies and equipment. Few soldiers are idle. Li Yanzhi climbed the sand dune on one side and looked at the valley mouth looming in the wind and sand in the distance. That is the battlefield that Li Yanzhi chose to stop the enemy in the coming days.

Liu Jiwu followed Li Yanzhi's side. During the bloody battle of Lingju, he accompanied a small number of auxiliary troops to escort the people in the county to the north to avoid disaster. Although he did not personally experience the extremely tragic siege of the city, from the words of the soldiers and generals who followed, he also knew some about the situation in the city at that time.

Recently, when Li Yanzhi was discussing with several of their generals and soldiers, his expression was much more silent than at the beginning. Liu Jiwu also knew that after Lingjuna and other Shura hells, the soldiers and generals around him died one after another, which made Li Yanzhi's temperament change greatly, but it also made sense. It's just that he didn't defend the city with the army at the beginning, and he survived that hard and desperate time, which made his heart a little empty.

Now that the war is imminent, Liu Jiwu is also melancholy. Since he and Li Yanzhi started from the stable together, over the years, the faces around him have changed I don't know how much. Some of them have been buried in the green mountains and become a small wooden plaque in the martyrs' shrine, and some have been left with lifelong disabilities, and it is difficult for them to enter the ranks and fight side by side with them in this life.

"Ji Wu, you say, after this war, how many more brothers will stand with us?" Li Yanzhi's eyes quietly looked at the valley mouth looming in the wind and sand in the distance, ignoring the fierce wind in the desert and slapped the rolled up sand and dust on his face, with a melancholy look.

Liu Jiwu slowly lowered his head: "Don't say that Brother Pao Ze below, it is you and me, in this battle, how long can we survive, isn't it also unknown?" ”

Li Yanzhi nodded slowly, but his eyes were still fixed on the open space in front of the valley mouth: "I don't know how long you and I will survive." However, in this position, life and death are no longer self-determined. When the war is swept in, others may be able to retreat, but those of us who are in the army can only be stubborn and stubborn, and they will ...... head-on."

Li Yanzhi sighed with emotion, and looked back at Liu Jiwu: "Jiwu, after every battle, I will go to the Martyrs' Shrine to pay respects to those fallen brothers. Looking at the increasing number of spirit cards, I ...... in my heart It's not a taste......

"Especially after the battle of Lingju, I felt even more uncomfortable when I watched the craftsmen engrave the names of the fallen brothers on the stone tablets...... For us, they have become the spiritual tablets in the ancestral hall and the names on the monuments. However, in families, parents lose their sons, women lose their husbands, and many children lose their fathers while they are still infants......"

Liu Jiwu looked at Li Yanzhi with a sad look on his face, and said, "Master book, others may not know, but Ji Wu will not know." What the master does is nothing more than the peace of a place, and he wants the people to live and work in peace and contentment. The war broke out suddenly, and the bane was all on the thieves. If the thief is not peaceful, there will be no peace in the world......"

Li Yanzhi looked at Liu Jiwu and said slowly: "If you win this battle, the Western Regions will be peaceful." I will not dwell long in this land. After returning to the county, I would like to invite one or two Confucian students to open a school and recruit the children of loyal martyrs in the army to study in the hall. so that they may seek a way to be close to themselves in the future......"

When Liu Jiwu heard this, his expression when he looked at Li Yanzhi was full of disbelief. He clenched his fists and knocked on the ground, and said: "The master is benevolent and righteous, and Ji Wu worships the loyal martyrs in the army." Orphans in the army, it is most appropriate to be resettled in this way......"