On the vast desert, the air close to the road is like boiling water under the baking of hot sand, and on the winding road, groups of soldiers of the Tang Army are sweating fast, more than 70,000 horses, stretching for more than ten miles, and there is no end in sight at a glance. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

At this time, a fast horse galloped from the front, and Zhao Ziliang, who was at the front of the march, immediately rode his horse to the side of the road, and the knight galloped over and stopped to report to Zhao Ziliang with a fist: "General Qiyu, there are still forty miles from the next oasis!" Nothing unusual along the way! ”

Although the striker Li Sheng has led 3,000 elite cavalry to quickly pursue Tuozhi City, but the main army is on the way to Tuozhi City, Zhao Ziliang still does not dare to be careless, and several waves of outposts are still sent to the front to probe the march along the way, and now the Tang Army has absolute strength, as long as you are careful, even if you are chasing ducks, you can drive the big food army away, don't capsize in the gutter at this time.

Listening to the report of the outpost, Zhao Ziliang looked up at the sky, and estimated the marching speed of the army, if the marching speed is accelerated, it should be possible to reach the next oasis before dark, this kind of desert area, the ground is full of sand, plants are scarce, the sand on the ground is roasted hot during the day, but at night the temperature drops quickly, and the temperature difference between day and night is very large, so it is necessary to find a place to camp before dark.

Zhao Ziliang immediately instructed Sima Chen Qing on his side: "Order the whole army to speed up the march and rush to the oasis forty miles away to camp before dark!" In addition, Bai Xiaode and Fugu Huaien were sent to lead their fourth and fifth battalions to determine and demarcate the area of the camp, probe the surrounding situation, and arrange a vigilance."

"No!" Chen Qing clasped his fists and saluted, nodding to the herald, who quickly arranged for some heralds to run along the roadside and shout, verbally conveying Zhao Ziliang's order.

As the order was conveyed, the marching speed of the entire army began to speed up, the cavalry was okay, they had horses to ride, and the infantry who had been walking fast had to start trotting at this time, the Beiting Army had no infantry, counting the baggage troops were all cavalry, and the Anxi Army was different, Gao Xianzhi and others were not willing to spend a lot of money for the army to equip a large number of war horses and cavalry like Zhao Ziliang, the Anxi Army counted all the troops together, and the number of cavalry accounted for only half, and the other half were infantry, these infantry had no horses to ride, and could only walk, The infantry lacked the protection of the cavalry, and once it was raided, it was easy to collapse, and they could only march together on foot.

The army finally marched forty miles before dark to camp in the oasis, and many of the infantry of the Anxi army were exhausted, and some even frothed at the mouth.

Zhao Ziliang took Beiting and the main generals and officials of the Anxi Army to inspect the camp, and saw that the infantry soldiers of the Anxi Army were tired enough, and if there was a battle at this time, I was afraid that I would not be able to count on it.

Zhao Ziliang frowned and asked Cao Lingzhong, Zhao Chongyu, Jia Chongjun, Xi Yuanqing and others, "Why are the physical strength of these soldiers so poor?" Running forty miles is as tired as a dead dog, and if the enemy army is coming, how can you fight? ”

Cao Lingzhong felt that his face was gloomy, and he sneered: "General Zhao doesn't know, our army has not carried out similar exercises, and it is normal for the soldiers to be uncomfortable with running such a long distance suddenly."

Zhao Ziliang nodded and did not speak, Zhao Chongxuan, Jia Chongjun and Xi Yuanqing and other people have all worked under Zhao Ziliang before, and they have some understanding of his military strategy, for a long time after Zhao Ziliang left, they were all arranged to train the army according to Zhao Ziliang's previous tenure, but as the saying goes, people go to tea and cool, once the son of heaven and a courtier, each of the generals has their own set of methods of governing the army, after Zhao Ziliang left, the new generals do not think that they are inferior to Zhao Ziliang, and they will govern the army according to their own routines, Therefore, some of Zhao Ziliang's methods of governing the army when he was in charge of Anxi have long been replaced by the methods of other generals.

Walking to the logistics craftsman camp, Zhao Ziliang saw that the craftsmen were sitting on the sand and doing nothing, he thoughtfully beckoned to Zheng San, Zheng San came over and hugged his fists and said, "General? ”

Zhao Ziliang said: "Li Sheng's side is only afraid that the local people have been recruited to cut down enough trees, and the shipbuilding should be almost possible, and now these craftsmen have nothing to do here, it is better to send a batch of horses to them, and then send a group to escort them first, let them carry tools and ride horses to the Yaozhishui River to build ships, and after arriving, work will start for several days, and build a boat that can be used by three thousand cavalry to cross the river in one night as soon as possible!" ”

Zheng San promised: "Understand, the lower officials will arrange this matter immediately, and strive to let them set off early tomorrow morning!" ”

Zhao Ziliang nodded, and said to his nephew Zhao Hu: "Zhao Hu, you lead two thousand cavalry to escort the craftsmen first."

Zhao Hu clenched his fists and said: "Take the order!" ”

Two days later, the main army of the Tang Army arrived at Tuozhi City, Li Sheng led people to greet him at the city gate, Zhao Ziliang stopped at the city gate, and saw that the city was lifeless, and he couldn't see half of the locals, "Li Sheng, why did Tuozhi City become like this?" ”。

Li Sheng hugged his fists and said: "General, when the last general led the troops to chase after him, Tuozhi City was already like this, and the big cannibals snatched everything that everyone in the city had robbed, and at that time the city was full of corpses, and half of the palace was burned!" ”

In recent years, Shiguo has undergone several major changes, has been invaded by the Great Food Army twice and burned and plundered, making the eyes full of devastation, during the death of the former king of Shiguo, the political situation of Shiguo has a great impact, and then Gao Xianzhi and Bian Lingcheng have a great impact on Shiguo, and repeatedly scrape the ground to make Shiguo's vitality greatly damaged, from the leading rich and powerful country in the Western Regions to the weakest country, and the military disaster can be said to be the heaviest among the Zhaowu countries.

Zhao Ziliang was silent for a while, and shouted: "Pass on the general's order, the whole army will camp outside the city, without a military order, no one is allowed to enter the city, and those who violate the order will be beheaded!" ”

A response to the mountain and tsunami sounded: "Obey!" ”

After the Chinese army was set up, Zhao Ziliang ordered the generals to gather for deliberations, and the officials and generals arrived one after another.

Zhao Ziliang looked at Li Sheng, who was standing among the generals on the right, and asked, "Li Sheng, what has happened to the Great Food Army in the past few days?" ”

Li Sheng stood up and hugged his fists and said: "General Qiyu, since the Great Food Army retreated to the other side of the Qierchik River, it has sent more military horses to strengthen patrols along the river for forty miles, and has sent heavy troops to prevent our army from crossing the river on several river beaches that are most convenient to cross the river.

Zhao Ziliang asked again: "How is the ship built?" ”

"In the end, people will be sent to supervise the construction, and the craftsmen will work day and night, and one day they will be able to build a hundred ships, each of which can carry ten people and ten horses at a time, but after all, these ships are made in a hurry, and it won't take long."

Zhao Ziliang said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you can support the completion of this operation." Pass the order, pay close attention to the movements of the big cannibal, and report as soon as the ship is completed! ”

"No!"

Next, Zhao Ziliang arranged various matters for the generals and officials, and the generals and officials left after receiving the tasks, and took care of the affairs of the army in an orderly manner.

In the afternoon of the next day, Li Sheng came to the Chinese army to report to Zhao Ziliang that the boats had been built and had been launched, and that the boats were quite stable after rowing and walking on the river.

Zhao Ziliang immediately ordered Li Sheng to prepare, and asked him to lead the forward 3,000 elite cavalry boats to advance along the Yaozhishui River to the confluence of the Qierchik River late this night, and immediately led the army north to raid the back of the Great Food Army after successfully crossing the river.

Li Sheng received Zhao Ziliang's general order, and immediately returned to the forward army camp to convene his subordinate generals to convey the general order, and instructed his generals to prepare to cross the river.

In the early hours of the morning, a long fleet of boats quietly passed through the confluence of two rivers along the river bank to the east, and soon arrived at the shore, the ships docked one by one, and the knights in light armor led the horses down from the boat, originally these Tang soldiers were all northerners, not familiar with the water, and even many people had never been on a boat since birth, but Zhao Ziliang had already carried out relevant training for the soldiers and horses under his command, so this way by boat, because the time was not long, no soldier was seasick, The three thousand horsemen arrived safely and smoothly on the riverbank.

After the 3,000 men and horses went ashore at full speed, the fleet quickly withdrew and rowed towards the opposite shore.

After the team was lined up, after counting the number of people, and arriving at full speed, Li Sheng gave an order, and the army quickly set off to the back of the camp of the Great Food Army twenty miles away.

In order to minimize the possibility of detection, Li Sheng constantly sent scouts to the front to scout and clear the outposts of the Great Food Army, and at the same time let the Great Army advance slowly to reduce the sound caused by the march of the Great Army.

When the three thousand elite horsemen quietly arrived three miles behind the camp of the Great Food Army under the leadership of Li Sheng, the sky was just numb, and the soldiers and generals of the Great Food Army in the camp were doing the morning salute.

Although the Great Food Army was very vigilant and learned a lesson, Li Sheng could not be allowed to hesitate at this time, and the horse lance in his hand pointed forward: "Order the whole army, lean over and slowly speed up, and attack the formed men and horses first, as long as we see the team assembled by the Great Food Army in the camp, it is the target we will defeat first, and then the stragglers!" ”

Three thousand elite horsemen lined up in a mile-long scout procession, and under the spur of the knights, the horses stepped forward, from slow walking to walking horses, from walking horses to trotting, and then from trotting to running, from running acceleration to running charge.

A huge roar swept towards the camp of the Great Eater, who would have thought that the Tang Army had secretly built a boat in the western section of the Syr Darya, crossed the river in the middle of the night, and launched a surprise attack while they were performing the morning prayer?

The Tang army actually appeared behind, which made the generals of the Great Food Army very surprised and panicked, but after the last sneak attack, the reaction of the Great Food Army this time has obviously improved, they reacted quickly when they were doing the morning prayer, the soldiers pulled out their scimitars and turned around to the camp, they stood in line when they did the morning prayer, and there was no need to line up again, just get up and turn around and pull out the scimitar.

However, the infantry in the case of a sneak attack, although prepared, but still seem a little panicked, because they stand densely, when the Tang army lined up a neat cavalry army rushed over, a few waves of arrow rain made the densely standing big food army suffer heavy losses, Li Sheng took the lead, the horse lance in his hand swept one after another, rushed into the gap in the big food army formation, the Tang army's wedge-shaped array piercing force was extremely strong, and soon tore a gap in the big food army array, as the Tang cavalry behind continued to rush in, the gap became bigger and bigger, and the big food army with heavy casualties finally could not stabilize, collapsed in an instant, the soldiers of the Great Food Army fled in panic, the Tang Army took advantage of the situation to cover up, and the Great Food Army suffered countless casualties. (To be continued.) )