In May of the fifth year of Tianbao, Gao Xianzhi led the army to Shule City, and carried out the second rest on the way to the march, and Li Siye led the Shule army of 5,000 people to join the expeditionary army. Since then, all 12,000 people in the Anxi camp have been in place and full.

How many people are 12,000? As a number, it is not vivid, but if you imagine that there is a playground standing in front of you, with 120 people standing in a horizontal row and 100 people standing in a vertical row, such a phalanx is. If this phalanx stands closer, the playground with a radius of 70 meters can accommodate it. Even if they raised their banners and took up their swords and guns to form several small phalanxes to form an army, they could see it all at a glance without climbing up to the heights.

Based on the ancient communication method that basically relied on visual flags, an excellent general could directly command an army of about 30,000 people, and beyond this number, it would not be in the general's sight, even if he could climb to the heights and overlook, but his eyesight was limited, so he could not know what the casualties and morale of the friendly troops in the distance were.

Since ancient times, generals who can command 200,000 people to win are rare animals, more than 500,000 people who can win are gods, and those who can command more than 1 million people can be called myths. Tens of thousands of people or less have won. More and less has always been a difficult dialectical problem. Li Siye doubted in his heart that those guys who led hundreds of thousands of troops to the expedition at every turn lent their confidence and courage. In the absence of telephone, telegraph and other communication equipment, the troops beyond their line of sight were all unstable factors, redundant auxiliary troops, mountains of grain and grass, and countless people piled up together like slow crawlies, pulling a trigger and moving the whole body, and the slightest setback in exchange for the rout of the whole line.

For people with limited ability, a small but elite army is the king to win, and if you can't play such a big battle, don't hold on.

An army of 10,000 set out from the city of Shule, and the city suddenly seemed much empty. Twelve Niang, Mei'er and Daorou stood on the city wall, looking at the glittering array of armor in the distance, the dust raised by countless horses suspended in the air, looming and obscuring their vision.

Twelve Niang turned around and asked Rou, "Can you see Ah Lang, where is he now?" ”

Dao Rou shook his head regretfully, no matter how special and different the man in his family is, it is an inconspicuous little spot in the crowd, even if he sings with his neck, no matter how high he jumps, he can't make waves.

Madame pointed to the six particularly conspicuous red flags and said, "He is now the deputy envoy of the camp festival, and he should be in front of the banner, following General Gao." ”

Li Siye did follow Gao Xianzhi's side, according to the order of the Jiedu envoy's travel, he was on the right rear side of Gao Xianzhi, the supervising army was on the left rear side, and the marching Sima, the Jiedu judge, the Jiedu army, and the marching secretary were all side by side. The procession marched along the post road, stopping at each city and post station for a short rest and replenishment, and the commander of each battalion, the Marquis Yu, strictly controlled the soldiers to prevent them from being lazy and eating the dry food used for the second half of the march.

This battle needs to be carefully calculated, and the progress must not be wasted because of the lack of food and grass.

Li Siye deployed a small number of soldiers at each grain and grass storage point to maintain order and supervise the supply of soldiers.

In mid-May, the landmark mountain of Green Ridge appeared in the army's sight, its four ridges winding upward, like the meridians of a giant's storm, but above the snow line it looked like a steamed bun. Its body is majestic, and its ice and jade are like love.

The soldiers who have never been to the Green Ridge are amazed to see such a beautiful scenery, and some talented people may leave poems to commemorate it.

Passing through the mountain, known as the Muztag Mountains, is an official entry into the Pamirs, surrounded by a number of hills that make it even more majestic.

The army was now marching through the valley below, where the grass was lush and the summits were covered with snow, and there seemed to be no clear boundary between them. Halfway up the mountainside is exposed with blue-black hemp stones, the weather is sunny at the moment, and you can see glaciers on the mountain, and the icicles are hung upside down, like a fairy's dress to give people infinite reverie.

After passing through the peaks, passing through the weir lake in the lower reaches of the Xiduo River, the shadow of the iceberg is still reflected on the turquoise blue water, and along the rivers and lakes to the hometown of Drinking Pantuo, they look around and find that they are surrounded by continuous snow-capped mountains, and the ancient city of green mountains appears on the hilly slopes.

Five grain hoards were set up at the post station at the foot of the hill as the last stop of the trip. The Tang army camped in the open air in front of the post station, and Gao Xianzhi led his staff into the city of guarding.

Of course, the size of the city may not change, but the appearance of the city is very different. Recently, the improvement of the environment of the Khotanese trade route and the expansion of the post station have made the commercial activities of this line far more frequent than in the past. And this small city in the hinterland of the green mountains is also thriving.

There were two liquor shops in the city that competed with each other, and there was a bazaar that could be used to set up stalls, and the herdsmen who lived nearby and the people of the Zhiyin Kingdom sold their by-products here for copper coins. Shi Jiang, Song Heng and others under Yu Gou's command no longer need to lick blood with knives and act as guards to obtain additional income.

Gao Xianzhi's surprised expression was exactly the same as Tian Renwan at the beginning, it was tantamount to finding a pearl in the wilderness, and said to Li Siye, who was standing beside him with a lot of emotion: "This is the place where you started at the beginning, I remember that the Green Ridge was just a garrison before, and now this is the best, the chickens and dogs smell each other and the market has popularity, which complements the glacier of 10,000 years." ”

They stood at the head of the city, facing the direction of Lianyunbao, but there was a thousand mountains between the two, Tian Renwan and Fumeng Lingcha had all been here, and they were all full of ambition, but in the end they returned with a feather.

After a day and a night of repairing, the final supply was completed before the capture of the Green Ridge, and the Tang Army recuperated at night and officially entered the vast mountains of the Green Ridge. At this time, most of the mountains had no names, one after another, stretching endlessly, the undulating snow line towering above their heads, and the clouds floating on the peaks blocked the blue sky, and also lost the sense of distance and direction.

In order to make this long-distance run more secretive, and for unnecessary adventure, Gao Xianzhi decided to set the route at Telmanchuan and go along the river valley to avoid the risk of crossing the glacier pass.

Even in the river valley, the roads were rugged and long, and in some places the mountains were rocky and the vegetation was scarce, so the Tang army had to feed the livestock with some dry food. In this undulating rock crevice, a stream formed by the melting glacier flows down the mountain. The soldiers stopped and led their horses to look ahead, mist-shrouded peaks across the road. Sometimes the glaciers that were about to collapse seemed to hang above their heads, and some people's faces became red and uneven, and Li Siye knew that it was altitude sickness.

Fortunately, the lord of the hidden country, General Jin Wuwei took the initiative to come to greet the Tang army, he is an old acquaintance of Li Siye, and the two sides met in such an environment, which can be regarded as a great joy in life.

In the spring and summer, the Chinese people herded along the river valley and traveled between the Green Ridge Shouyu and the Telman River, and have adapted to the local climate and environment for thousands of years. They are truly white-skinned people, with a high nose bridge, large nostrils and thick nose hair, suitable for survival in the high mountains and low oxygen environments, and even the argali, which they ragali, are oversized and have thick hair, and their horns are curled like snail horns. The Zhiyin people liked to cut off their horns to be used as drinking and eating utensils, and argali's horns or were sold to the Central Plains by traders as medicine and ornaments.

After a period of recuperation, the people of Gayan's Hidden Division flourished again, and their current camp was set up on the shores of Lake Catel in the middle of the Telmangawa River, with a high mountain backdrop and a lake facing the water, and felt tents dotted with them.

When the Tang army arrived here, the sun and the moon were setting, the morning sun was rising, and the sky was deep blue. It seems to be closest to the sky, so there are no thick clouds in the starry sky, only diamond-like stars that appear to shine brighter than usual, which can be touched. Even the bonfires lit between the felt tents are as tranquil as oil paintings, and the colors are different. The people sitting in front of it can be illuminated by the light of the fire, and they are not afraid of the beast-like mountains behind them.

"If I can come back alive, I will build the abandoned post here, as a good deed for the passing merchants."

Li Siye threw the dry branch into the fire, making a crackling and burning sound, and he turned his head to Jiayancong beside him.