Looking at the mountains and running dead horses, so do the wolf smoke in the desert.

Ma Chao led the army to gallop forward for two hours before he saw an oasis, and the Qiang cavalry following behind him couldn't help cheering when they saw this.

Even if the Qiang people grew up in the four counties of Longxi, they are no strangers to the desert and the next door, but if they are forced to do so, no one wants to cross the desert.

The power of nature is so terrifying that even the best traveler can easily get lost when marching through the desert.

Losing your way often means death.

Even if you don't lose your way, if you encounter a sandstorm, you will die in Huangquan nine times out of ten.

It can be said that every time you cross a large desert, it is a great test for people's psychological quality.

Ma Chao finally showed a smile on his face, but because his face and beard were already covered with fine grains of sand, this smile seemed a little stiff.

"Brothers, there is an oasis ahead, run!"

Ma Chao's voice spread throughout the three armies, and the Qiang cavalry suddenly shouted unwillingly, patting the war horse and galloping forward.

Ma Chao even relied on the war horse under his crotch, like a strong wind, rushing into the oasis and running towards a small lake.

The weather in July is so hot that the heat can be a bit frenzied, especially for those marching in the desert.

Ma Chao came to the side of the lake, jumped in regardless of the image, and enjoyed the sweetness and freshness brought by the lake.

"Poof!"

"Poof!"

More and more soldiers jumped into the water, and they didn't care about Ma Chao's identity, and they frolicked in the lake.

"Whew!"

Ma Chao, who had a fierce man, emerged from the bottom of the water, spit out two mouthfuls of lake water, and looked like he was enjoying it.

"King, King."

At this moment, several Qiang scouts ran over and stood on the shore of the lake shouting loudly, they were the ones who lit wolf smoke and pointed the way for the Qiang cavalry.

Ma Chao heard someone shouting to himself, and he didn't care about enjoying the coolness of the lake, so he walked directly to the lakeside.

Back on the shore, Ma Chao shook his body, and many water stains fell to the ground, and after being absorbed by the grass under his feet, the grass looked more and more verdant.

With his wet hair casually draped over his shoulders, Ma Chao asked a few scouts, "Have you ever heard about the movements of the Guanzhong Army?" ”

A man who looked like a leader replied: "King Qiyu, the Guanzhong army has now entered the territory of Jiuquan County, and it won't be long before they can reach this place." ”

Ma Chao was silent when he heard this, looking at the east quietly, not knowing what he was thinking.

……

This is a deserted Gobi, littered with rubble, in which only some tenacious plants will grow, and they are extremely lacking in vitality.

Rao is so, and the conditions in the Gobi are far better than those in the desert.

At the very least, on the Gobi, you can occasionally see some swamps and some animal tracks.

It's just that for war horses, galloping on the Gobi full of sharp rocks is not a pleasant thing.

In fact, the cavalry in the past did not dare to ride their horses on the Gobi at all, because the slightest carelessness would cause the horses to be separated.

If the horse's hooves are injured, it means that the horse is scrapped.

However, now on this deserted Gobi, there is a group of cavalry galloping forward, not caring about the gravel under their feet.

At the forefront of this cavalry, Lu Bu had a hearty smile on his face and said: "With the horseshoe, even if the cavalry is marching on the Gobi, there is no need to worry about the injury of the war horse." ”

Wei Xu responded: "What the general said is extremely true. ”

This cavalry was none other than the two thousand Guanzhong cavalry led by Lu Bu, although they were all sweating profusely, their faces were also very good.

The appearance of the horseshoe is undoubtedly a cross-era product for cavalry.

Cheng Lian said: "Then again, if we can lead the Qiang cavalry to the Gobi full of sharp rocks to engage them, our army has the advantage of horseshoes and will definitely be able to crush the opponent." ”

Cheng Lian is also a battlefield veteran, although because of Lu Bu, he was not reused by Chen Xu. But Cheng Lian's vision is very good, and the key is explained in one sentence.

Lu Bu's eyes flickered slightly, and he also thought of the benefits of doing so, and couldn't help but show a smile on his face.

He looked at the west and said heroically: "Why do you need the lord to lead the army to capture the horses, I will lead two thousand iron horsemen, and I can destroy the Qiang people!" ”

Cao Xing hurriedly admonished: "The general is brave, the world knows it, but that horse is also brave and abnormal, and the general must not be careless." ”

Lu Bu snorted coldly: "Huangkou Ruzi, his subordinates are defeated, why am I afraid? If the horse dares to lead the army to kill him, I will take his life. ”

"Drive, drive!"

Just as Lü Bu was leading his soldiers to rest, a group of cavalry rushed over and shouted: "The lord has an order, after Wen Hou leads two thousand cavalry into the next oasis, he will set up camp on the spot and must not continue to advance." ”

Lu Bu frowned when he heard this, and asked, "I haven't met the Qiang people, why did I stop?" ”

The herald replied, "The villain doesn't know the details here. ”

Lu Bu didn't embarrass that person, even if he was unwilling, he didn't dare to disobey Chen Xu's military order.

After resting for a while, Lu Bu once again led the crowd forward, galloped for half a day, and finally arrived at the next oasis.

In the oasis, there were still some people alive here, and they looked at the sudden arrival of two thousand cavalry, and they were suddenly frightened and overwhelmed.

"Kill!"

Lu Bu didn't have the slightest word, and rushed forward with a loud shout, leading his soldiers to slaughter all the people in this oasis.

Most of the oases in the desert of the four counties of Longxi are inhabited by various alien races, and their numbers are not large, but they are diverse.

There are many people who don't know what race they are, and they can't even communicate verbally.

It can be seen that although the four counties of Longxi are nominally under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty, in fact they are not, and even before Chen Xu led the troops into Longxian, the entire Liangzhou was not under the jurisdiction of the Han Dynasty.

Cavalry rushing to the desert can increase speed, but in doing so, it will lose the ability to supply.

In fact, the biggest difficulty of the expedition to the desert was how to obtain grain and grass and supplies, and even if they brought foot soldiers, it would be extremely difficult to transport grain and grass.

Let's not talk about whether it is possible to transport grain and grass in the desert, even if it can be transported over, the ultra-long-distance transportation route will consume a lot of grain along the way.

In fact, the enemy can easily intercept the grain and grass.

This is also why, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty drove the Xiongnu to the north, he would consume the wealth accumulated by the Han Dynasty for several generations.

Long before the expedition, Chen Xu had already taken this into account, and the order he gave was to loot along the way and feed the war with war.

No matter how desert is deserted, there are still people living in the oasis, and those aliens who live in the oasis will also accumulate a lot of materials.

This is also why, in the process of confronting Chen Jing, Ma Chao was able to support himself even though he was weak in the follow-up of grain and grass.

Bloody snatching is always the best shortcut.

In order not to exhaust the grain and grass in Guanzhong because of the labor expedition, Chen Xu chose this path that might be infamous.

"Poof!"

Fang Tian's halberd flew sideways, blood splattered everywhere, and Lu Bu enjoyed this feeling very much.

In the face of the wolf-like Guanzhong cavalry, even though the aborigines of these oases rose up to resist, they were still brutally slaughtered after all.

Blood flowed from the slaughtered and poured on the grass above the oasis, and perhaps after a while, the grass watered by blood would become even more verdant.

The shouting of killing gradually stopped, and Lu Bu looked at Hengchen Siye's corpse, without a trace of guilt on his face.

Perhaps for a military general who has been on the battlefield for many years, their hearts have long been as hard as iron when dealing with the enemy.

The wind howled, swaying the grass from side to side on the oasis, and the smell of blood was strong.

"Bury the bodies, loot supplies, set up camp."

Lu Bu took back his Fang Tian Painting Halberd and calmly gave an order, in the hot summer, if the corpse is not disposed of, it is easy to bring the plague.

Therefore, the first thing the Guanzhong Army did after the war was to bury the corpses.

The wind was howling, and the air quality was still terrible as the desert was not far away.

In the evening, Chen Xu finally led the remaining cavalry into this oasis.

After the arrival of the army, the fragrant mutton soup was already permeating everywhere, mixed with some bloody smell that the wind could not blow.

In the face of the stewed mutton soup, most of the soldiers were like wolves.

Chen Xu held the sword that Chen Jing gave him, sat on a clean grass, and was silent.

Here, he was not soaked in the blood of the aborigines, nor could he smell the faint smell of blood, but Chen Xu always felt a little blocked in his heart.

"Uncle, let's have something to eat."

Chen Mo brought a big bowl of mutton, came to Chen Xu's side, and handed it over with both hands.

Chen Xu took the mutton, but he felt that the faces of many innocent people who were killed were reflected on it, but he had no appetite no matter what.

"Kill all the killings, are you still here to be compassionate?"

With a self-deprecating smile, Chen Xu picked up a large piece of mutton with chopsticks, put it in his mouth and chewed it in a big mouthful.

As the commander of the First Army, he is now going to travel thousands of miles outside the country, and he must definitely take care of his body.

Therefore, even if he feels guilty in his heart, even if he has no appetite, he still forces himself to fill his stomach.

Seeing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but show a bright smile on his face.

Seeing that Chen Xu had eaten all the meat, Chen Mo took the empty bowl and said, "Uncle, I'll serve you another bowl." ”

With a wave of his hand, Chen Xu took out a dry food from his arms and said, "The weather is very hot, it's not good to eat too much mutton, I'm not hungry anymore, just eat some dry food." ”

Chen Mo was not reluctant, nodded and left with the empty bowl.

After resting for a night, as soon as the Guanzhong cavalry was ready to go, Chen Xu saw a faint and flickering smoke in the far northwest, soaring into the sky.

"Wolf smoke!"

Seeing this, Chen Xu's heart sank, and he hurriedly summoned the generals and said, "Although I don't know how far away that wolf smoke is, it must not be too close. ”

"From such a distance, you can see the wolf smoke rushing into the sky, which shows that the maker of the wolf smoke is definitely intentional."

Zhao Yun said: "In the desert, most of the wolf smoke is to point out the direction, and the wolf smoke that appears in the distance is not entrenched by Qiang people? ”

Fan Chou said: "In this area, except for the Qiang people, there is no one else at all who will create this kind of wolf smoke that goes straight to the sky. ”

Lu Bu laughed a few times when he heard this, and said, "I originally thought that Ma Chao's gang might cower in his lair, but I didn't want him to be so ignorant. ”

"Now that I know where the horse is, please ask the lord to give me 3,000 iron horses, and I will definitely kill the horse."

Chen Hu was also a little excited, and said, "Brother, I want to kill Ma Chao!" ”

Chen Xu didn't say anything at the first time, just raised his head and stared into the distance, the looming wolf smoke, and frowned tightly.

In the desert, information transmission is becoming more and more difficult, and intelligence is extremely lagging behind.

Even, Chen Xu didn't dare to send scouts, because after most of the scouts were sent out, it would be difficult for them to come back alive.

Therefore, Chen Xu had no way of knowing what the scene was at the location of the wolf smoke.

"Would Ma Chao be so stupid and use wolf smoke to expose his whereabouts?"

"Or maybe Ma Chao didn't expect that I would lead the army over so soon, so I lit the wolf smoke to point out the direction for the army?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Xu finally spoke: "This matter may be a little strange, although my uncle and Ah Hu are brave, they are not as careful as Zilong. ”

"Find out about the wolf smoke, and leave it to Zilong."

When Lu Bu and Chen Hu heard this, their faces were a little unpleasant, and they didn't say anything more after all.

Zhao Yun looked at Chen Xu and asked, "Does the lord think that Ma Chao will cheat?" ”

Chen Xu stroked his beard, shook his head and said: "The lack of too much information is immeasurable, when Zilong leads the crowd over, be careful, I will lead the army to answer behind." ”

Zhao Yunsolemn nodded, and then led three thousand iron horsemen, and took the lead in the direction of wolf smoke.

However, it was said that Zhao Yun received the military order to lead the crowd forward, and it took a day to walk before arriving at another small oasis.

However, in this place, except for some wolf smoke that had been burned out, and the bones of many aborigines, there was not a single Qiang cavalry at all.

Zhao Yunguang sent scouts to reconnoiter around, but he didn't see a single Qiang person, but he saw traces of the Qiang people who had been stationed, which couldn't help but make Zhao Yun's heart feel cold.

"Bury the bodies, set up camp, and be cautious."

That night, Chen Xu led the army to this oasis, inquired about Zhao Yun in detail, and after getting Zhao Yun's report, he thought for a long time.

Chen Xu didn't dare to slack off, let the soldiers eat some of the dry food they brought, and let Dianman lead a team of cavalry to patrol the night.

In this unfamiliar land, there is Ma Chao, a lone wolf, hidden in the dark, Chen Xu must be very energetic.

If he is not careful, the 15,000 sergeants and soldiers he led may be crippled here.

(I went out for an afternoon today, and I was told that I was on the homepage of the starting point of the bookstore push, and today it broke out with 12,000 words.) ）