The march is hard, the march is difficult. Marching is a very boring thing, although it is a team of more than 1,000 people, but most of the time it is silent riding forward, the black army is strictly disciplined, no one chatted loudly during the march, the team went all the way to the north, to the direction of Jingzhou, Xi Junmai was bored, idle and almost mildew, camped in the evening, everything was arranged by Cheng Chuliang, the black army dismounted, silently set up the camp, until everything was arranged, Xi Junmai yawned and got off the horse, he looked around, couldn't help but be a little surprised, In the eyes of veterans, he knows how to lead troops, knows how to make his subordinates willing to support and shed blood for him, knows how to march, arrange, camp, etc., these are the real real skills, how to be a good officer's basic skills, and only when the basic skills are solid can he be qualified to talk about meritorious deeds. Xi Junmai's surprise is also here, judging from the camp set up, Cheng Chuliang's basic skills are not weak, it seems that the military academy is to learn with heart, and can learn and apply, see that he chose a place near the mountains and waters, the opening of the camp is facing the open area of the plain, and the part of the mountain behind is laid with light and dark posts, in a short period of time, the camp tent is perfectly arranged, it is completely the standard model of the black army camp camping in the field, and the main general tent is surrounded by a circle of barbed wire, cloth Ming Gang, and the entire camp is extremely solid. Well defended. Just looking at the effort of arranging the camp, Xi Junmai knew that Cheng Chuliang would definitely not fail to achieve his own achievements in the future. This time, Li Yong chose him to open up the West Road with him, obviously it was also carefully selected, for Xi Junmai, the adjutant next to Xi Junmai also looked straight, he was also a veteran, this was the most meticulous and standard camp he had ever seen. Seeing the adjutant in a daze, Xi Junmai patted him on the shoulder, pointed to the staggered camp tent and smiled.

"What do you think?"

The adjutant nodded in reply.

"Good!"

"If you want to make meritorious contributions, you can't just look at how many enemies you kill, how many great military merits, Lao Xu, just this kung fu of camping, you have to learn for a few years, and then talk about making meritorious contributions and sealing your wife and son. Let's study hard with Li Daliang along the way, and see how long they have only been in Xishan Camp. ”

Lao Xu turned his head and glanced at Xi Junmai, but that guy is really powerful, he works hard in the officer school, and his training is particularly diligent, and his sword and marksmanship are among the best in the battalion, and the ghost special combat team has come to ask Cheng Chuliang several times, but Cheng Chuliang didn't agree. A bonfire was set up in the camp at night, everyone ate in batches, the main general camp tent, Xi Junmai grabbed a raw leg of lamb in one hand, and held a sharp dagger in the other hand, the firelight was reflected in his dark pupils, jumping with a fiery red light, Cheng Chuliang looked at Xi Jun buying roasted lamb shank, Cheng Chuliang saw that Xi Jun's procedure for buying roast lamb shank was quite peculiar, and couldn't help but stop and look at it for a while, and when he saw Xi Junmai turn around, Cheng Chuliang hurriedly walked away, humming an unknown tune, pretending to look at the scenery, and so on several times, Xi Junmai sighed, He said without looking back.

"If you want to learn my craft, just sit down honestly, look at it brightly, this is not a secret that is not passed on, whoever learns it is just a meal, back and forth, are you hypocritical?"

Cheng Chuliang's face was red, after hesitating for a moment, he simply sat next to Xi Jun's purchase, but his face was a little confused, Xi Jun's purchase of roast lamb leg is very special, not an ordinary technique, the leg of lamb is pickled in advance, and a few cuts are made with a dagger on it to facilitate the taste, and then sprinkle cumin and fine salt when the appearance is golden and oily, and then sprinkle some ground dogwood when it is almost ripe, Cheng Chuliang is an eye-opener today, Cheng Chuliang used to eat roast sheep or something when he was in Longwei Camp, but Xi Jun's purchase of this technique is the first time I have seen it, The leg of lamb was cooked, bubbling with oil, the golden skin was particularly attractive in the light of the fire, and a thick aroma permeated the surroundings, and Cheng Chuliang squirmed his throat imperceptibly. Xi Junmai slowly cut off a large piece of meat from the leg of mutton with a dagger and handed it to him, Cheng Chuliang was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly thanked him, no matter how hot the mutton was, he stuffed it into his mouth, and inhaled the cool air while chewing, so hot that he grinned and ate happily.

"Delicious!"

Cheng Chuliang praised, and after swallowing the meat in his mouth, he seemed to want a piece, he smacked his lips unsatisfied, and then licked his fingers. "Tsk!" Xi Junmai glanced at him with disgust, took a pickled raw leg of lamb from the side, cut a few gaps with a dagger, and continued to roast it on the fire. Cheng Chuliang was overjoyed, rubbed his hands, and waited for the next wave of roast lamb leg with a smile on his face.

"Is it delicious?"

Xi Junmai looked at the heat of the leg of mutton and asked lightly.

"Delicious! The world is delicious, you are so amazing, captain. ”

Cheng Chuliang was full of praise, it didn't take long for the leg of mutton to be roasted again, Xi Junmai directly handed him the leg of mutton this time, watching Cheng Chuliang gobble up, he also smiled happily.

"Actually, these are what the commander learned from the commander, and then I learned from the commander, the entire Xishan battalion, I and the commander who have this craft, you can eat it if you like, this time we were ordered to be a pathfinder to explore the situation in the Western Regions, you have to be prepared, there is no logistics supply here, everything is up to us, do what an officer should do."

The imperial court declared war on Tubo, naturally did not notice that the black army sneaked from the Yellow River to Tuyuhun, and then marched to the Western Regions under the nose of the Tang army, Li Yong's purpose was to collect all the intelligence of the Western Regions, for him to have a better layout for the future of the Western Regions, Xi Junmai and Cheng Chuliang chatted with each other, Xi Junmai handed over the barbecue technique to him, Cheng Chuliang slowly learned his technique under the patient teaching of Xi Junmai, and then Cheng Chuliang did it himself, watching Cheng Chuliang skillfully scratch the mouth, Sprinkled with cumin and salt, Xi Junmai looked at his swarthy face and suddenly asked.

"Do you regret it?"

Cheng Chuliang was stunned for a moment, but quickly continued the work in his hand, and then replied lightly.

"When I was in Tuyuhun, Cheng Chuliang was already dead, I have never regretted it, and even I feel that I am very fortunate to have joined the Xishan camp, this is my home, Xishan is my new home, I am reborn here, then I have the responsibility to protect them."

"Well, very well, remember what you said, in the future you will definitely not be a better general than me, or even the commander."

Xi Junmai patted Cheng Chuliang's solid shoulder.

"In the south, our Holy Majesty is about to fight with those savages in Tibet, I hope not too many people will die."

Cheng Chuliang was stunned for a moment, turned his head and stared at Xi Junmai.

"Western expedition to Tibet?"

"Well, the western expedition to Tibet, but don't worry, your father and your brothers are not on the list of this expedition, and according to the deduction of the headquarters, these imperial army will suffer a big loss, and if you are not careful, Songzhou will be lost."

Xi Junmai looked at the map of the Western Regions, and talked to Cheng Chuliang about the imperial court's war against Tubo, and heard that his father and brothers and brothers did not go, Cheng Chuliang was relieved, but when he thought that many people would die this time, because he knew the geographical environment of Tubo, people had not been there, and he couldn't stand the altitude sickness at all, so he recognized the deduction of the headquarters very much.

"Don't think about it so much, you look at the map, the actual route and situation, there is still a difference between it and the signs on the map, we have to make a good record, and we can't affect the commander's judgment in the future."

Cheng Chuliang glanced at the map, for a long time, his eyes showed a look of approval, as a qualified black army officer, looking at drawings is the most basic work, the two of them kept altering the old map, and then marked on the new map.

"Do you know why the commander sent us to Xizhou?"

Cheng Chuliang paused again, shook his head and said.

"The subordinates only do what they are told, but they don't know what they are."

Xi Junmai's hand pointed to the west of the map, slowly to the left, and then to the left.

"Xizhou, just in the Silk Road must pass through, and then go west is Gaochang country, in recent years, the lord of Gaochang colluded with the Western Turks, robbed the past traders, cut off the Silk Road several times, the caravan of Xishan is a great threat, and Xizhou, is adjacent to Gaochang, Xizhou is hundreds of miles away from the desert, logistics are cut off, grain and grass are not continued, the defenders are quite tired, if they are not careful, they will be taken advantage of by Gaochang country, if Xizhou is taken by Gaochang country, it will be transmitted to Chang'an The court will be angry, but the sage is mobilizing a large army to conquer Tibet, and he can't free his hand to clean up Gaochang, If the imperial court does not act, it will definitely disappoint the world, make Gaochang and the Western Turks more and more arrogant, so as to gain an inch, and at that time, the trade route that we have spent a lot of money to open up will be cut off, which will be a major blow to our Xishan foundation, as a part of Xishan, so we must not allow such a thing to happen. ”

Cheng Chuliang, as a grassroots officer, and not long after joining Xishan, many things are not very clear, but as soon as Xi Junmai said this, he showed a sudden expression, and his expression gradually became solemn, Xi Junmai told him this matter clearly, and Cheng Chuliang realized how dangerous and serious it was to go to Xizhou.

"So, the Commander's intention in sending us to Xizhou is ......"

Xi Junmai nodded with a smile and said.

"That's right, as you thought in your heart, the headquarters sent us to Xizhou, of course, it is to take over Xizhou directly, Xizhou is already an enclave in the imperial court, and now Xizhou is not peaceful, but we must manage it well, and we must guard it, at least until the headquarters has a new order, when the time comes, the west road we open up is safe, and our caravan can safely trade, our shot and bullet are all seen like this, our task is to open up the west road and protect the Xishan caravan."

Cheng Chuliang stared at the map for a long time, his expression gradually became excited, his eyes shone with a clear brilliance, Xi Junmai sighed, and met a war maniac again, these years, the Xishan camp road is about to go crazy, although the mercenaries continue to rotate out, but there are too many people who go, many of them are crazy, and the warlike behavior of the Xishan camp has become a tradition, Liu Renliang is one of the typical representatives, even their commander Xue Rengui is no exception, don't look at him Sven, kill people and grab people, more ruthless than anyone else.

Cheng Chuliang was full, and he finished his work with Xi Junmai, so he went back to his camp tent with his stomach up, the bonfire in the camp scorched the faces of the soldiers on the side, and the fire crackled and exploded lightly from time to time, playing in concert with the surrounding birds and insects, Cheng Chuliang sat quietly on the grass, staring at the bonfire in a daze, thinking about his heart alone, in the eyes of ordinary soldiers of the Black Army, the future of Xizhou gradually brightened, their thoughts were not complicated, as long as they cut off a few more enemies' heads, that's it. But Cheng Chuliang can't think so simply, what kind of situation will Xizhou be? Even if they take over Xizhou, the city of the imperial court, how will they develop the city, build Xizhou into an important base for the Xishan caravan in the desert, and how to resist the invasion of foreign enemies that are likely to be encountered, etc., the future is too unpredictable, Cheng Chuliang seems to be in the desert where he has lost his way, and he himself is groping forward step by step. Three days later, Xi Junmai's team arrived near Jingzhou, Xi Junmai in order to avoid the eyes of Jingzhou City, fortunately Jingzhou City did not find Xi Junmai's traces, because on the west side of the road, the Tibetans are too difficult, especially the army of 1,000 people, as well as their logistics support troops, more than 1,000 people, it is easy to keep their whereabouts, Xi Junmai decided to set off for the north the next day, the longer he stays here, the more likely it is to have accidents, because there is still an enemy who is eyeing them, roaring towards the sky. The black army continued on the road, after leaving Jingzhou City, Xi Junmai can still feel the prosperity of Guanzhong, the smoke of the wild cooking, the villages are lined up, and a lot of caravans can be seen on the road from time to time, some rush south to Chang'an, and some are full of Datang special goods to embark on the Silk Road to return to China, coming and going, and making profits come and go. If you change to the people of later generations, this is not out of the customs, it is estimated that they are tired of the boring and hard journey, the speed of the plane, the farther road will be there, the boring journey, the boring time, can only be resisted by the disciplined black army, they don't know how long they have gone, one day, Lao Xu took the telescope to observe yes, and suddenly surprised "Huh". Xi Junmai also picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction he was looking.

"Commander, did you see that?"

Xi Junmai didn't reply, but Lao Xu yelled urgently.

"Commander, is it because I have bad eyes? Look at that caravan of the Hu people, I didn't look away, did I? ”

Xi Junmai raised his face coolly, staring at the caravan of Hu people who followed them.

Soon, Xi Junmai's expression was not right, he made a silent gesture in his hand, and then let everyone hide, after receiving Xi Junmai's gesture order, he and Lao Xu and others all lay on the ground, and no one made a sound during the whole process, Xi Junmai took the telescope and looked at it on the ground, and then calmly pointed to the Hu caravan behind him, and didn't say anything, but Lao Xu said softly.

"Captain, did you see that too? , there is an acquaintance in the caravan. ”

"Hell yes! Everyone has arrived in Jingzhou, what other acquaintances can they meet? ”

Xi Junmai was also speechless, but he really looked at this Hu caravan and saw an acquaintance, he hadn't noticed it just now, but when he saw it, his expression changed greatly, his eyes widened in horror, and he looked like he had seen a ghost in the daytime. Lao Xu squinted at him, and snorted softly from his nostrils very arrogantly, Xi Junmai looked straight for a long time, and suddenly touched his nose and smiled bitterly.

"I did see the hell."

In the Hu caravan behind, a familiar figure wearing a men's robe and a Hu man's felt hat, hung his head and sat among the twin peaks of a camel without saying a word, bumping up and down with the rhythm of the camel's walking, his little face was blown red by the wind and sand, and he looked very haggard, but his eyes were full of stubbornness that he did not admit defeat, and gritted his teeth to persist in this long journey. Xi Junmai looked at it in a daze for a long time, and finally confirmed it, and muttered with a complicated expression.

"Bai Huiru, you crazy woman is really ......"

After coming back to his senses, Xi Junmai directly gave an order.

"Order the troops to stop advancing!"

More than 1,000 people of the black army order forbidden, soon stopped, the Hu caravan behind also found that there was an army in front, they guessed that it was the army of the Tang Dynasty, so they also stopped, the caravan leader was a middle-aged Hu man with a full beard, Xi Jun bought this stop, the Hu people led the team also muttered, and several other Hu people got together to discuss a few words, the Hu people led the team got off the camel and walked towards Li Su's team alone. When he walked about ten zhang away from Xi Junmai's team, Lao Xu suddenly rode his horse and stopped in front of the Hu Ren leader, his nostrils were facing the sky, and he raised his hand with an extremely arrogant expression, and shouted.

"The Tang army is here, and people are coming to stop and avoid!"

The racist face really made the black army crooked, and the Hu Ren leader was startled, and hurriedly raised his hands high, signaling that he had no weapons, green and environmentally friendly, pollution-free and pollution-free, and then took off his hat, bowed to Lao Xu, and said in a jerky and weird Guanzhong tone.

"The gods blessed His Majesty the Tang Dynasty with invincible warriors, and the villain is Nayan, a merchant of the Guizi Kingdom, who has great respect for the Heavenly Empire, and has no malice."

This Qiuzi man named Na Yan instigated for a long time, repeatedly emphasizing his kindness to Datang, Lao Xu's guarded expression was a little misty, he snorted coldly, and was very arrogant, for Lao Xu's arrogant and rude appearance, Na Yan was not angry, but a natural expression that the Tang Dynasty should be so arrogant, after expressing his kindness, Na Yan also put forward the suggestion of his peers, looked at Jiang Quan with anxiety, and waited for him to make a statement. The Silk Road is not very peaceful, any change in the vast uninhabited desert may be encountered, after entering the Longyou wasteland, the Silk Road is full of all kinds of bandits, sand thieves, etc., merchants come and go between their country and Chang'an, the risk to be borne on the road is not small, although the caravan has its own escort armament, but this point of use is not much, and the robbers should be robbed or robbed. Therefore, the smart merchants were not in a hurry to leave for China after buying and selling goods in Chang'an, but waited for other merchants in the pavilion of Chang'an City, more than a dozen, dozens of them, and the Hu merchants gathered together to form a group, and the probability of the team's victory was much greater if they encountered bandits on the road. Today, this Qiuzi merchant named Na Yan is very lucky, when he passed through Jingzhou City, he actually had a thousand troops of the Tang Dynasty on the path outside the city, and looking at the dress of the army, it was actually the legendary black army, which was a complete surprise for Na Yan. Therefore, Xi Jun's purchase of this army is very important to the Hu caravan, and the Hu merchants of the entire caravan reached a consensus on the road, and the dead skin and face should be stuck to this black army like a plaster, even if they are driven away, they will not leave, of course, as a businessman, Na Yan also knows the beauty of money, and after shouting a few words at the caravan, someone soon sent a camphor wood box, opened it in front of Lao Xu, it was full of all kinds of gems and flawless jade, Lao Xu's cold expression was also a little unnatural at the moment, Unconsciously turned his head to look at Xi Junmai. Xi Junmai ignored him, stood in place, quietly looked at Bai Ruhui dressed as a man in the caravan, stared for a long time, and he shook his head helplessly.