The sun hangs in the sky in late winter and early spring, but the bright sunlight does not bring much warmth. Zhu Quan rode his horse slowly, following Feng Tieling, and Fang Jinsong was on his side.

After walking more than ten miles, the commander of the army in front of Lan Yu stopped his horse, looking at the open place on the edge of the sky in front of him, only to see that the more he looked north, the color of the earth yellow had become thicker and thicker, and he knew that he was about to enter the Gobi, and he saw that there was an open and flat land in all directions, and he could see that there were more than ten miles away from the sight, even if there was an enemy attack in any direction, it was difficult to hide from the ears and eyes of the Ming army scouts, and he put his mind at ease, and looked down at the grassland where he was stationed, and there were many emerald green shoots between the dry grass. With his right hand raised, he resolutely shouted to Sima of the Chinese army who was in charge of the order: "Pass on the military order of the commander, the whole army will rest in place, but it is not allowed to eat or drink, take off the saddle, and let the war horses eat and graze." ”

Jinyi Wei Tongzhi Cao Wenbin followed Lan Yu's side, and after seeing that the boss ordered a rest, he turned his head and waved his hand to the two Jinyi Wei Baihu on his side, and after the two Baihu received the order, they each led more than a dozen subordinates to disperse and guard the surroundings.

With more than a dozen Chinese army horses galloping under the order, you slowly swam forward on the grassland like a dragon, all the Ming cavalry gradually stopped, and the soldiers turned over and dismounted, leading the horses and scattering.

Zhu Quan turned over and got off the horse and stretched a long waist. The whole body is dark, the four hooves are snow-white "dark clouds cover snow", after Ma Sanbao takes off the saddle, he hisses lowly, looking very happy, looking down to find the grass tips that have sprouted to eat, and he stretches out his head to kick the grass roots in front of him, as if he wants to see if there is any edible tender grass under the mud and sand.

Zhu Quan saw that after the love horse "Dark Cloud Cover Snow" ate the tips of those tender grasses, he plucked up the grass roots with the mud and sand, looking like a small character, he couldn't help laughing, turned his head to look at the end of the grassland in the distance to the north had gradually revealed a piece of earthy yellow, his heart sank slightly, he turned his head to look at the saddle taken off the dark cloud covered snow, and secretly thought in his heart: Since this way, the army has been marching slowly, soldiers, and war horses have not shown fatigue, Lan Yu let the whole army rest at this time, it seems that he is worried that he is about to enter the Gobi, Once we enter the desert, we can only move forward quickly, if it is found by the Yuan army in the desert Gobi, it will be extremely dangerous. Thinking of this, he looked up at the fat and strong "dark clouds covering snow", and sighed secretly in his heart: The battle between the two armies seems to be by no means as simple as the competition of military strength and general strategy, if there is no old man Zhu in the creation of the Ming Dynasty for agriculture to support, where do we have so much grain and grass for war horses to eat, if our war horses are also as weak as the Yuan army horses that have endured a cold winter, I am afraid that Lan Yu may not dare to be so dangerous, abandon the grain and grass and then cross the desert. It turned out that since the cavalry of the Ming army was stationed in Daning last winter, in the cold winter when the water and grass were exhausted, thanks to the grain and feeding allocated by the decree of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor, so far more than a few grains and grasses have been consumed, which is already incalculable.

About an hour later, under Lan Yu's military order, the 150,000 Ming soldiers got up, began to place the saddle on the backs of those war horses, tied them up, turned over and walked forward.

The army marched forward, and between heaven and earth, the little green on the grassland was gradually submerged under an endless yellow. Lan Yu saw that the army had gradually entered the Gobi, and gave a military order in a deep voice, and the whole army accelerated.

The horse's hooves were flying, the dust was flying, and the brigade of men and horses was like a swimming dragon that had already recuperated, stretching until the end of the horizon, moving faster and faster, and rushing into the vast Gobi.

After the whole army marched quickly for more than dozens of miles, the "dark clouds covered with snow" under Zhu Quan's crotch were covered in sweat, slightly tired, and turned his head to look at Feng Tieling on his side, Fang Jinsong and the two, although they were strong and tough because of their martial arts, they still looked relaxed, but the horses were far inferior to their own mounts, Shenjun, and they were even more white and tired.

Zhu Quan turned his head to look around, only to see that there was no trace of green vitality under the blue sky, only yellow sand in his eyes. There was a faint sound of birdsong in his ears, and when he looked up, he realized that several vultures were hovering in the air, as if they wanted to wait for the countless humans on the ground to leave them with food to survive.

Lan Yu, who was riding a horse in front, suddenly felt that he was riding and riding between high and low, looked down, and found that the hooves of the jujube red horse had gradually fallen into the sand, and immediately stopped the horse, and ordered in a deep voice: "The whole army dismounts and rests, and disperses the thousands of war horses carrying drinking water to the army ......." ”

Zhu Quan heard the horse galloping past his side, after the military order passed by Sima of the Chinese army, he turned over and dismounted, and did not wait for Ma Sanbao to do it, so he took off the saddle of the horse "dark clouds covered with snow", and saw that the horse took off the burden of more than ten catties, neighed in a low voice, and seemed quite happy, and couldn't help but be very angry, and secretly thought: You can still take off this burden and relax for a while, but unfortunately we can't take off the armor on our bodies. You looked around and saw that there was no trace of green around him, and his feet were soft, and then he realized that the army had gradually come to the desert land.

On the eve of the departure of the army, Lan Yu had already instructed the soldiers under Guo Ying to prepare many sheepskin water bags filled with drinking water, so that the remaining thousands of war horses could be carried after the war horses of the Ming army were lost in winter. These horses had no knights, and each of them carried six or seven sheepskin water bags that could hold more than seven or eight catties of water. Feng Tieling's thousands of black-armored cavalry were naturally also assigned.

After several war horses responsible for carrying water were brought to the front, under the order of Feng Tieling, several black-armored cavalry hurriedly dug a big pit in the sand with their hands, and then laid the bottom with a water-separating oilcloth, and then poured all the water in those water bags into the pit, and when twenty or thirty water bags were poured out, and the water in the pit was gradually full, then they took turns to lead the war horses forward, let the war horses drink a few sips, and forcibly dragged away those war horses who were reluctant and wanted to continue to drink water, and let other knights drink horses.

Zhu Quan looked at the foal who lowered his head to drink, forcibly suppressed the bursts of dryness that came from the depths of his throat, and tried to secrete some saliva to moisten his already dry lips, and secretly cursed Lan Yu in his heart, and said in his heart: Under the hands of the blue crab, we are really not as good as horses. It turned out that Lan Yu had just passed down a military order, and all the water taken down was first drunk by the war horses, and all soldiers were not allowed to drink water in the pit, even the water bags they carried were not allowed to take a sip.

Cursing and cursing, Zhu Quan still knows that Lan Yu's move is also helpless, now the 150,000 cavalry has gone deep into the desert, the first thing is to ensure the drinking water of the war horses, if everyone drinks hard, I am afraid that if I go on again, when the war horses are dehydrated and weak, these 150,000 men and horses will all be buried in the desert.

After the surrounding war horses had drunk, Feng Tieling walked to the edge of the pit in silence and squatted down, holding the remaining turbid and filthy water in the pit with his hand and taking two sips.

Ma Sanbao, who was beside Zhu Quan, quietly took off the water bag on his saddle and handed it to him.

Zhu Quan was bitter in his heart, and secretly thought: We are really not as good as horses. Thinking of this, he pushed away the water bag handed by Ma Sanbao, squatted on Fang Jinsong's side, and drank the remaining water from the war horse in the pit with his hand to drink two sips, the cool feeling in his throat reminded him of the goal of this Northern Expedition, and secretly gritted his teeth and thought: When I find those damn guys, I will definitely make them look good.

After about half an hour's rest, the 150,000 cavalry, under Lan Yu's order, no longer galloped on horseback, but everyone took the reins and began to cross the desert on foot.

After Zhu Quan heard Lan Yu's order, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart, and secretly thought to himself: Such a dangerous desert with no water source, we should cross it quickly, why did we get off the horse and walk?

After Zhu Quan fell with one foot and followed the army into the desert on foot, he realized that it was like such a soft sand, and then the horse of the divine horse fell step by step, and under the condition of abnormal effort, it was impossible to gallop at high speed. If the cavalry in the desert wears down the mounts, it will be extremely dangerous.

Looking at the boundless yellow sand under the distant sky, it seems that no matter how long you walk, you can't see the end. Zhu Quan also suddenly felt a trace of fear in his heart, and secretly thought: The most terrifying thing about the desert may be that he will slowly devour the hope in people's hearts, making people doubt whether they can get out alive.

The sun was setting in the west, and the sky was slowly approaching dusk, and the situation a few feet ahead was gradually blurred.

"Dingyuan Marquis" Wang Bi rode his horse to the side of the coach Lan Yu and whispered to him: "The brothers have been on the road for a day, why don't we get some food here and rest for one night before leaving." ”

Lan Yu turned his head to look at the subordinate generals behind him who had been struggling in the desert for a day, and all of them were disgraced, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "According to the scout's report, in more than twenty miles, we will be able to get out of the desert." Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and smiled at Wang Bi: "Tell the brothers, when we go out of the desert, we will eat and rest, so that everyone can endure it again." ”

Cao Wenbin, who was not far away, heard Lan Yu say this, and couldn't help frowning slightly and looked at him, silent. It turned out that when he and Lan Yu were at the forefront of the team, the Jinyi Wei Baihu, who set out to explore the road first, returned to Lan Yu, saying that after about sixty miles, you could see the grassland, how could it be that when you arrived at Lan Yu's mouth at this time, sixty miles became twenty miles?

The night is getting thicker, the bright moon is in the sky, the 150,000 Ming cavalry today in the Gobi Desert struggling for a day, already tired and hungry, waiting for the blue jade handsome order passed down from the front, everyone can not help but be quite excited when they hear the four words "eat and rest", everyone is holding the tail of the horse of the companion in front of them, and holding their own reins in the other, so as not to fall behind in the night, and the team gradually accelerates the pace of marching. The generals and soldiers were all full of hope, and they all hoped to finish the damn "twenty-mile road" as soon as possible, so that they could eat and sleep early.

Zhu Quan walked silently with the horse, and at this time he was also sore and tired. I don't know how long it has been, I look up and see that the position of the bright moon in the sky has changed greatly, and I look at the endless darkness in front of me, I secretly sighed, and said in my heart: I don't know the distance in such a dark night, but it is much better than looking at the yellow sand in the daytime. It turned out that he had walked hard in the desert for a day during the day, and he had already deeply realized that the most terrible thing about the desert was not drying up and dying, but looking around, as far as the eye could see, the endless yellow sand between heaven and earth was very easy for people to produce the kind of despair from the heart, and being in this boundless sea of sand made everyone unconsciously have a terrible illusion, even if they walked a hundred miles, a thousand miles, they might not be able to step out of the desert alive. This terrible despair and doubt goes far beyond death itself.

I don't know how long time passed, Zhu Quan, who was following the black-armored cavalry, suddenly heard the cheers of the Ming soldiers in front of him one after another, and the knight who was not far in front of him turned his head and cheered to his companions behind: "Grass, grass, it's time to ...... grass."

About another time of incense, the feeling of being down-to-earth came from under his feet, Zhu Quan couldn't bear it, squatted down and touched the dry grass on the ground, and couldn't help but feel a burst of ecstasy, understanding that the 150,000 army had successfully crossed more than 100 miles of desert.

Lan Yu, who led the crowd, jumped off the horse, stomped the hard ground under his feet, and turned to the Chinese army Sima beside him and ordered: "No military orders, no rest, let the brothers let go of the war horses to eat some grass, and feed the horses with more grain, and if you are hungry, you must let the war horses eat more." When cooking, cook in the burrow, if the cooking makes a fire, there is no forgiveness. "It turned out that at this time, although the army led by Lan Yu had already walked through the most difficult part of the desert, it was still in the open and unobstructed grassland area on all sides, and the place where it was stationed was bound to be distributed for several miles.

Zhu Quan hadn't eaten anything since he set off, and he was already so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back, and he felt that the brigade in front of him slowly stopped, and he couldn't bear the fatigue all over his body anymore, and sat on the ground with his ass. Just as he was about to urge Ma Sanbao next to him to cook quickly, he suddenly heard the order passed from the front of the team, and couldn't help but be angry, jumped up and led the mount "Dark Cloud Cover Snow", and asked the horse to find some grass sprouts to eat on the grass. When the horse kept rubbing its head against its shoulder and neighing lowly, it remembered that it had also suffered for a day, and these grass sprouts were naturally difficult to eat, so in desperation he had to reach out and grab a few handfuls of wheat from the grain bag, and feed it with jealousy.

After Ma Sanbao, Jing Jun, and Sima Chao also fed the war horses with their own rations, they hurriedly dug pits on the ground with the weapons in their hands. After digging a two-foot-deep pit on the ground, Ma Sanbao took a ball of dry grass that Jing Jun and others grabbed indiscriminately, stuffed it into the hole, and started dinner.

Zhu Quan took Ma Sanbao's hand, the boiled paste-like hot food, he couldn't bear it anymore, swallowed a few mouthfuls into his stomach despite the hot mouth, and suddenly felt comfortable, and secretly swore in his heart: When he returns to Yingtian, Lao Tzu must eat and drink for three days.

After Ma Sanbao, Jing Jun, and Sima Chao ate the few mouthfuls of paste like a whirlwind, they licked their dried lips unsatisfactorily, and invariably remembered the fresh fish in the small lake in King Ning's mansion that they often stole to eat.

This book was first published.

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