The weather was very hot, the sun hung high in the sky, the scorching sun scorched the earth, the heat wave was rolling on the earth, and it was impossible to see anything in front of you from a little distance. There is no wind, not even a whirlwind!

The chariots, the horses and horses, there was not a trace of noise in the marching army, except for the sonorous footsteps, only the sound of armor crashing was endless. It's not that everyone is reluctant to speak, at least Tian Fan really wants to say something, but the weather is too hot, and he really doesn't have the slightest desire to speak.

This is the official road from Kaiyang to Ju County, and more than 30,000 soldiers of the White Tiger Legion led by Tian Fan are heading to Ju County. Lu Bu led 2,000 wolf cavalry as the vanguard, Tian Fan and Liyi and other generals led the army in the middle, Cheng Lian and Cao Xing each led 2,000 wolf cavalry to roam around the Chinese army, responding to each other, Gao Shun led 6,000 soldiers to protect more than 20,000 people and baggage, and Pang De and Hao Meng led 4,000 rangers to guard the rear army.

To fight a war is to make use of one's strengths and avoid weaknesses and give full play to one's own advantages, so after Liu Bei and others discussed, they decided to send troops in mid-May. Compared with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Liu Bei's advantage lies in the population base, Xuzhou because of the locust plague in previous years when the refugees poured in, resulting in a sharp increase in population, to now, plus the Huainan region occupied last year, the total population has surpassed Yuan Shao, becoming the prince with the largest population in the world. What's more, because most of the people who successfully escaped into Xuzhou were Zhuangding, the number of Dingkou in Xuzhou was more than that of Yuan Shaofang. Therefore, without delaying the summer harvest, Liu Bei can prepare more than 200,000 strong men to help the army transport grain and grass. Therefore, Liu Bei decided not to wait for the end of the summer harvest and resolutely launched the war in advance.

In this way, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are bound to fall into passivity, because they don't have so many strong men, the summer harvest can't be delayed, but the city can't be unguarded. The end of the summer harvest until the tax collection comes up, about late July, but it will not take until late June for Liu Bei's army to arrive in Xu County or Chenliu, correspondingly, Tian Fan will arrive in Ju County at the end of May, and in mid-June he will arrive in Linzi, that is, the Qingzhou Governance Office, the location of Yuan Tan, the assassin of Qingzhou. In this way, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao will be in a dilemma, should they harvest wheat or defend the city? That's a problem!

As the saying goes, there will be gains and losses, once Liu Beiyang's strategy of avoiding weaknesses is implemented, the enemy will fall into passivity, but he himself will not feel good. Summer marching has always been a taboo for soldiers, and the hot summer makes everyone want to die, and non-combat attrition will rise sharply.

In fact, Tian Fan was prepared, he chose the marching time at night, or morning and evening, but first, to catch up with the progress, and secondly, everyone also persuaded that when everyone arrived at Linzi and attacked the city, it was June and July, when the weather was the hottest, you can't always choose to fight at night because you feel sorry for the soldiers, right? Then you have to let the soldiers adapt to the hot climate first! Tian Fan had no choice but to respect everyone's opinions, and changed the marching time to daytime from three days ago. Except for the two hottest hours of the day, the rest of the march was due.

In just three days, more than 100 people in the 30,000-strong army suffered from heat stroke. Fortunately, Tian Fan was well prepared in terms of military doctors, otherwise this battle would not have been fought! But even so, almost everyone covered their bodies with prickly heat.

Wiping the beads of sweat on his face, Tian Fan let out a sigh of relief, looked at the gloomy sky, and said, "It should be raining, right?" If it doesn't rain again on this day, I'm afraid that we will die before we reach Linzi! ”

The general Lu Yi, the secretary Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Lu Xun, Yang Wei, Zheng Yien, as well as the marching commander Shi Wang Kai, Gong Cao Wang Xiu, the marching Sima Gongsun Hao, the chief bookkeeper Li Ren and others surrounded Tian Fan around Tian Fan under the big sun. Koji Yi and Tian Fan were wearing armor, and they could only see sweat dripping down their faces, and the rest of them were dressed in scribe clothes, but their chests and backs were all wet, just like they were fished out of the water, and they were embarrassed. But it was precisely because of their embarrassment that although the soldiers complained a lot about the daytime march, they also silently accepted it.

Zhuge Liang and other scholars generally did not speak in the barracks, and the rest of the people also adapted to their silence, listening to Tian Fan's questioning, Gongcao Wang Xiu wiped his sweat and said: "The weather is hot and humid, and there is no wind, it should be rain!" ”

Tian Fan nodded and said, "Well, I hope there will be rain!" ”

Looking at the soldiers marching silently, and then looking at the embarrassed Zhuge Liang and others, Tian Fan didn't say anything, but nodded secretly in his heart. This army, how to say it, is elite!

At this time, Changshi Wang Kai looked at the position of the sun and said, "Dudu, it's almost time, it's time to rest!" ”

Tian Fan squinted at the position of the sun and said, "Old Koji, pass the order to go down and rest on the spot for two hours!" ”

Koji nodded and passed the order down loudly.

When the soldiers heard this, although they did not dare to cheer because of the strict military discipline, they could still feel their happiness from their suddenly brisk steps. Suddenly, the orderly march disappeared from the road, and groups of soldiers rushed into the woods by the roadside.

This is the good thing in this era, and the woods that are rare to see in later generations are everywhere in this era.

Tian Fan was still lying down under a big tree like a paralyzed person, and a personal guard immediately took off the shoes on his feet, and when he fell, half a catty of sweat flowed out of it. The feet are soaked white and wrinkled, and it is really not good to be cool. But as soon as the boots were taken off, a strange fragrance suddenly came......

Fortunately, everyone was about the same, and as the pair of boots came off, all kinds of scents mixed together, and the ecstasy was lifted. In fact, Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun are both a little clean, but fortunately, this situation has not happened once or twice, and they can now do it without changing their faces and hearts.

The generals wore armor, and it was very time-consuming and laborious to wear armor, so they didn't take off their armor, a few literati didn't care about those, anyway, everyone was a man, even if they were naked, it was nothing, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and others helped each other and took off their wet clothes, so after a while, several naked men appeared.

A guard sent carpet felt, and Tian Fan gestured to hand it to Pang Tong and others. Pang Tong and the others were not polite, took the blanket and felt and spread it on the ground, and then sat down with a comfortable moan. Pang Tongyi wiped his sweat with a towel and said: "Governor Dadu, our Xuzhou army asks to take a bath once a day, these days are so sad, and the fragrance is so strong, I really don't dare to imagine the situation in other armies." ”

Tian Fan smiled and did not speak. Looking at the prickly heat on Pang Tong and the others, he frowned and said: "You are all literati, and you are not generals, you don't have to be so strict with yourself, there is really no need to accompany me on horseback!" I don't know what you guys think if you don't sit in a car! Although it may not be much cooler in the car, it can be cooler after all, so you can all get in the car in the afternoon! ”

Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Metropolitan Governor, the army has always paid attention to fairness, since we are in the army, we naturally have to be strict with ourselves, and we can't engage in specialization." It's hot, but it's not enough for us to stand it! ”

He also said one after another: "Yes, what Kong Ming said won my heart!" ”

Tian Fan said speechlessly: "Okay, you can hold on!" When you're tickled, you'll know you'll regret it! ”

At this time, the guards brought lunch and water, and everyone took it and ate it. The rice is a flatbread, a very large flatbread, with a filling in the middle, half meat and half vegetarian, and a little more salt, which is deliberate, because the importance of replenishing salt in the summer march is no less than replenishing water. As for the water, it's mung bean soup made in the morning. Although it was a little hot by the sun, Tian Fan had a way. He asked the guards to wrap the cowhide bag in a wet towel and dry it in the sun, and when the towel dried, the water was much cooler and it was very comfortable to drink.

Tian Fan leaned his neck and drank half of the bladder water, which was considered to be completely cool. He found a very interesting phenomenon, as his body moved, his stomach made a "clang" sound, like a cow full of water, very funny. On the march, maybe the only fun thing is at this time, right?

The taste of the flatbread is good, but everyone's choice is the same as Tian Fan's, they are all full first, and then they start eating. To be honest, everyone doesn't want to eat too much on such a hot day, but they have to eat if they don't eat, and only by eating can they camp until the evening.

Everyone ate without a mouthful, and when the body cooled down, an irresistible sleepiness hit, and no one had the desire to speak. Wang Kai, Wang Xiu, Gongsun Hao, Li Ren and others are all old men in the army, Zheng Yien and Yang Wei are not fledglings, they each have important tasks and have to be busy. Tian Fan is obviously not a qualified commander, he just sends the task to the following every day, and then he doesn't care about it, and lets his subordinates play freely. After a while, in addition to the guards, only Tian Fan and Zhuge Liang were left in the woods.

Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Lu Xun all fell asleep, and Tian Fan looked at their still childish faces and couldn't help but smile bitterly. The three of them are all very strict with themselves, they usually dress meticulously, and they are also clear in their words and deeds, but they are tired like this at this time. Hey, it's hard for them, in the end, they are all young people, Lu Xun is only seventeen years old, Zhuge Liang is nineteen years old, and Pang Tong is a little older, only twenty-one years old. Although he was not much older than them, only twenty-four years old, after all, he had been in the army for many years, and the various things he had experienced, especially the physical torture, were not comparable to them.

Tian Fan asked people to cover them with blankets, and when they caught a cold, it would be troublesome. After that, he looked up at the treetops boredly, there was a huge spider web on the treetops, looking at the size of the spider web, Tian Fan believed that there must be a huge spider hiding in a corner, quietly waiting for the prey to come to the door.

In this war, it seems that Liu Bei's unreasonable action is to take the lead, but for some reason, Tian Fan is a little bottomless in his heart. Because Cao Cao's side is too weird, and the punishment caused by Dong Chengmou's rebellion is still not over, Tian Fan doesn't know what happened to Cao Cao, the army is overwhelmed, how can he still fix these moths? However, no one knows Cao Cao's personality better than Tian Fan, and no one knows Cao Cao's ability better than him, since he did this, there must be a reason. The unknown is the most terrifying! These days, Tian Fan has written to Liu Bei three times, asking him to send more people to closely investigate what Cao Cao wants to do, and I don't know if Liu Bei will listen.

Thinking of these, Tian Fan couldn't help laughing, Chen Gong and Liu Ye beside Liu Bei, as well as Jia Xu, are all top talents in this era, if they can't figure it out, then why should they think about it?

Shaking his head and driving these chaotic thoughts out of his mind, Tian Fan couldn't help but think of home. At home, the one who worries him the most is the little girl Jingjing. It's a wonderful feeling, a little life is born, and all of a sudden you start to worry about her in your heart, a little inexplicable, but more of a matter of course. Perhaps the highest achievement of the evolution of life is this inexplicable concern, right? Because of this concern, you are willing to give everything you have for her, even if it is your life.

Bai Yuzhu is not a good woman, Tian Fan once thought that she was from an alien and became a mother, but she couldn't even learn the most basic diaper change, and now among the people who take care of Jingjing, she is the most ineffective! Da Qiao only took half a day to learn to change Jingjing's diaper, and he learned to coax her to sleep in one day, which is really efficient. Oh, what a woman!

Da Qiao should also get married, she is eighteen years old this year, and as soon as June of the next year passes, and the three-year filial piety period expires, she should get married. But who is worthy to be her husband? This girl has a boring personality, she doesn't usually go out much, and she doesn't see any outstanding men, but I'm afraid it's really difficult to expect her to find it by herself, hehe, or I'm a brother to worry about it. And Xiao Qiao, if the two sisters get married on the same day, wouldn't the situation be quite lively?

Thinking of the pink little guy, staring at himself with a pair of black eyes, is it an inexplicable smile, Tian Fan smiled happily. Unconsciously, the burden on his shoulders has become heavier, with parents, wives and concubines, and children, if you count the children in Mi Zhen and Lu Xin's wombs, Tian Fan is already the father of three children. The march with a big sun and a helmet and armor in the summer, Tian Fan had never done it before, and he didn't want to do it, but now, he was willing to do it. Those big black eyes gave him endless motivation! naturally chose to be a general, so the fame should naturally be taken immediately, and there is nothing to complain about.

Thinking about this and that, his eyelids became heavier and heavier, and after a while, he fell asleep with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

An hour's sleep swept away everyone's tiredness in the morning, and when everyone woke up, they became energetic again.

The hot sun poison is also beneficial, Tian Fan's boots and the clothes of Zhuge Liang and others have long been dried out, so everyone changed their clothes and started marching again. Tian Fan looked around, and saw that the soldiers looked relaxed, he couldn't help but smile, it didn't take too long, as long as half an hour later, he believed that everyone would return to the state of the morning.

It's hard to walk, it's hard to walk!