Cheng Xishou lived a very comfortable life in this foreign emperor, not to mention eating and drinking well, and more than ten large ocean-going merchant ships would enter the port every day to trade, which brought them a steady stream of gold coins. The only thing that displeased him was that it was too hot here, even the sea was warm, and the temperature would rise after June; Then there are frequent dust storms, where strong northwesterly winds blow the sand and soil from the desert area into the bay, making the sea very turbid and the sky always drifting with haze.

"Dashuai, life is good!" The expeditionary marshal's mansion is located in the original city lord's mansion, which is also a rare cool place on the island, there are date palms planted outside the mansion, there is a pool in the garden, the grape vines form a pergola between the pillars, and some unknown flowers and plants are planted.

"Yo, everyone's here, sit down!" Cheng Xishou heard the sound of talking, and when he saw that several leaders in the army had arrived, he hurriedly sat up and said.

"This hellish place is so hot that it hasn't even rained for more than ten days!" The Leopard Wing Army commander Wang Gang unbuttoned his military uniform, thought about it and took off the boots on his feet, and complained in his mouth.

"Who said no, people are hot like this, and the horses can't stand it, they are all wilted, and they don't like to eat good forage!" Li Quan, the commander of the Wolf Wing Army, saw that Wang Gang had taken it off, and he also pulled his boots down with great effort, looked at his white feet blistered with sweat and sighed.

"It's all the same, those warhorses have been on the ship for so long, and the cabin is so small that it can only be tethered all day, and its physical strength has dropped too much. I'm afraid I won't be able to go into battle for a while! Wang Gang also said that he had been at sea for so long. The physical damage to the horses is not small, and most of their war horses come from the northwest. On the way, although I concentrated on serving, I also lost a lot.

"Hehe, I'm still in battle, I just got off the boat and the horses can't walk, and they all look like swings, and they're getting better these days!" Li Quan said with a wry smile.

"Honestly, how many cavalry troops will be able to go into battle?" Although what the two said was a joke, Deputy Marshal Ma Wei also realized the seriousness of the situation after hearing it, and asked seriously.

"Deputy marshal, our two armies are no more than other suppression divisions, all of which are based on foot soldiers. There were not many cavalry, but after receiving the order, the elite was drawn from the two armies and organized into a brigade, with a total of four hussars under the command of four brigades and six dragoons under the command of two brigades, with a total strength of 5,000 people. Considering that the shipboard can reduce the consumption and capacity problems on the way, it will be reduced to 7,000 horses. More than 1,000 horses were lost on the way, barely enough. Wang Gang also put away the joke and reported truthfully.

"Then there are our sergeants who are hard to resist the heat, the water and the soil, and many of them are sick. The combat effectiveness has been greatly affected, and we also want to ask the commander to consider whether to take a break and find a place with abundant water and grass to graze and rest the team. to restore your strength! Li Quan then said.

"Well, it's a tricky matter. When you land, you can find pastures nearby! "The two commanders are experienced in battle, and if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation, they wouldn't trouble themselves. Cheng Xishou also faced it squarely after hearing this.

"Marshal, after we landed, we found that there was a river entering the sea nearby, and after sending people to reconnoitre, there are small oases distributed in the place where the river passes, which is suitable for grazing, resting, and avoiding the scorching heat to restore the physical strength of men and horses, otherwise it will be difficult to continue the march." Li Quan said solemnly.

"How long do you think it's time to rest?" Cheng Xishou nodded and asked again.

"We thought it would take two months, and it would be best to get the horses fat and march when the weather gets cooler!" Li Quan and Wang Gang looked at each other and said.

"No, we don't have that much time, a month at most!" Cheng Xishou categorically rejected the request of the two.

"Why?" Li Quan and the two asked in unison.

"I have sent a visit to the natives, and I have learned that in the autumn there are hurricanes and sandstorms, and that our army will not be able to march either by sea or by land; In addition, the northeast monsoon will arrive here in October, which is the time of our return, and now it is almost June, and we have not much time left, if we miss the monsoon, we will have to wait for the next year! Cheng Xuan said leisurely.

"Dashuai, is a month too little?" Although he knew that Dashuai was right, Li Quan still wanted to buy a little more time.

"I understand your feelings, but I don't need to dwell on the truth of the military situation! Whatever you do, in a month I'll have to see an invincible team back here. Cheng Xishou said......

A month passed quickly, and although the expeditionary force tried their best to keep it secret and block the news that Jishi had been occupied by the Song army, there was no telling how many merchant ships were coming in and out of the country in a day, and how could they hold it. However, the Seljuk did not pay enough attention to this sudden army, and only handed over the province to which Ji Shiguo belonged to send troops to levy, and did not send a large army, and the result was that the Song army had an extra period of time to make money.

And the expeditionary force was not idle, they sent spies to intensify reconnaissance, and to collect grain and horses on a large scale, and loaded the goods and goods obtained in the state of Jishi and the Great Song caravan to withdraw from the Persian Gulf in advance, so as not to be retaliated against after their departure. The army also seized the time to rest and recuperate and carry out adaptive training, and Cheng Xishou also responded to their needs, as long as money could buy it, it was unambiguous, anyway, the most important thing now is money.

According to the military regulations of the Song army, captures in war must be handed in, but thirty percent of them can be taken out for reward. Ji Shiguo is simply a golden hole, and the capture of thirty percent is not a small amount, and Cheng Xishou and others cashed it out in advance without waiting for the end of the war in order to boost morale. At the same time, it also organized officers and soldiers to go to the island in batches to visit and shop, so that they could see the wealth and prosperity there; when everyone sighed, there would often be people around them who disdainfully told them that the place they were going to be a hundred times richer and more prosperous than here, and it depended on whether everyone had the courage to go shopping!

In order to be able to complete this expedition, several leaders are racking their brains anyway, whether it is meat or vegetarian, literary or martial, or vulgar and elegant, as long as they can quickly restore their combat effectiveness and improve their morale, they have all used the methods. In the end, without the agitation of the officers, the soldiers could not wait to go on the expedition. The expeditionary force, especially the army, which will be the main offensive force, has not reached its peak state in combat effectiveness, but it is not too much.

On the first day of the seventh month, the expeditionary force set out to leave the country of Jishi, and behind them were merchants from various countries who were reluctant to give up. It's a pity that the 'Morna' people withdrew before the end of this trading period, but everyone agreed that when the southeast monsoon blows, they must go to the Great Song Dynasty to see the legendary rich country......

According to the battle plan formulated by Zhao Tan, the purpose of this expedition was to deter the Seljuk Empire, open up maritime trade routes, and open up new markets. The most effective way to achieve this goal was to capture its capital, Baghdad, and let them see the strength of the Great Song Dynasty, and tell them that although the two countries were thousands of miles apart, the Great Song Dynasty could also destroy the country. In order to attack the city, it is necessary to first capture the city of Bosaro, an important town on the northwest coast of the Persian Gulf.

Ji Shiguo was more than 200 miles away from the city of Bosalo, and according to the plan, it was planned to attack along the coast by land and water. After discussing with the generals, Cheng Xishou thought that the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the physical exertion of the land march was huge, and because of the long rest, they had already exposed their offensive intentions, and there would be enemy troops along the way to intercept them. If the whole army still sailed north, it would be able to conceal its tracks, and it would also be able to appear under the city of Bosalo with sudden movements, and take the enemy by surprise. So they swung around the sea with a false shot, and then turned into the open sea in the darkness of the night to sail to the next target!

The city of Bosalo was built on the west bank of the old canal of the Euphrates after the Arabs had defeated the Persian army hundreds of years ago, fearing a counterattack by the Persian army from the sea. When it was built, it was garrisoned by a large number of Arab troops, aiming to control the main communication route between Hindustan and Oman at that time. The city is located on the Grand Canal, with convenient waterways, you can go down the river to the capital Baghdad, or you can enter the Persian Gulf through the southeast canal, which is the only hub connecting the Persian Gulf and the inland river system.

The city of Bosalo grew rapidly, expanding and extending to the edge of the desert, reaching its peak in the 8th and 9th centuries as a center of commercial, crafts, religious, cultural and financial activity. After the 10th century, it began to fall into decay, but the old city of 300 years of development still has a certain scale, the city is about five miles wide, and the buildings are made of kiln-fired bricks. Due to its location on the main transportation route, the camel caravans that crossed the desert and the merchant ships from the sea converged here, and the three residential areas of the city formed three bazaars, full of shops and warehouses, and the prosperity and scale of Baghdad were comparable.

Commerce contributed to the development of the financial services industry, and merchants who carried valuables or currency would deposit their valuables in currency changers or silver shops in exchange for a check that could be used for all transactions in the city. They could also use cheques to redeem money at silver shops, which was similar to the function of silver bills that were now prevalent in the Great Song Dynasty, except that the circulation area was limited.

Then, a hundred years ago, the city of Bosalo suffered a fifteen-year slave revolt and an Arab civil strife, and the city was sacked and slaughtered twice, causing its vitality to be severely damaged, and its commerce was also severely damaged. But emaciated camels are bigger than horses, and they are the only hub connecting the Persian Gulf to inland waterways. It controls the main routes to the sea in the south and the capital in the north, so that it maintains a certain commercial scale, and is still stuck in the interior of the Seljuk Empire...... (To be continued......)