Chapter 62: A difficult march

It was not long since I entered the Huns' realm, and it was so cold. How uncomfortable would it be if I walked deeper?

This kind of coldness far exceeded Zhou Yang's estimate. Even Li Guang, who had fought with the Huns for a lifetime, never expected that the severe cold in the desert was so unbearable.

However, the Han army acted in this way to ensure rapid mobility without charcoal. In such a cold weather, fire is the key to ensuring combat power, and charcoal is the most convenient. If you bring charcoal, when you can't stand it, a fire can greatly reduce the chance of frostbite.

However, if you march in the snow and ice, not to mention ten kilograms, even one straw may become the last part of the camel's back. Only by reducing the load of the war horses as much as possible can the mobility of the Han army be guaranteed. This is a pair of shields, which is difficult to reconcile.

"I blame me for not enough! I regret it. If I had known it was so cold, I should have brought some charcoal." Since Zhou Yang led the army, he rarely made mistakes, but this time he made a mistake, which was a huge mistake.

"Master, don't blame yourself. The coldness of the desert is the coldest thing that I fought with the Flying General and the Huns for a lifetime. I never expected it to be so cold! It seems that the severe cold this year is even worse than in previous years!" Cheng Buzhi arrived with a solemn look on his face, and ice flowers were hanging on his face.

"It's going to be colder!" Li Guang nodded and worriedly said to his face: "If there is too much frostbite, it will affect the combat power. What should we do?"

Maintaining the combat power of the Han army is the top priority. Although the marching lasted six or seven days and seemed not long, it was enough to frostbite many soldiers, causing the combat power to drop significantly. This matter has to be considered.

"It's too early to say this matter, so I'd better march to take a look." Gongsun He arrived, constantly wiping the ice chips under his nose.

"This is extremely true!" Cheng Buzhi was the first to agree.

It was too early to enter the territory of the Huns. Zhou Yang nodded: "Although this statement makes sense, it reminded me that brothers should wear what they can wear and must not be frozen."

Zhou Yang's eyes shone with brilliance, looking at the marching Han army, and pondered, "It's really not possible, I can only kill the war horses."

"Kill the war horse?" Li Guang, Cheng Buzhi and others exclaimed in unison.

War horses are extremely important to the Han army. Three war horses are to maintain enough horsepower. Only by keeping horsepower can you win in the war. If the war horse is killed, the weight of the war horse will increase. Even if you arrive at Longcheng, there is not enough horsepower. It is very difficult and difficult to win a battle!

"When we arrived at Longcheng, as long as the last war horse can maintain the strongest horsepower, we can defeat the Huns!" Zhou Yang frowned and said, "I can't stand the cold cold. I can only kill the war horse, peel off the horse's skin, and put it on my body to keep warm."

This is indeed a good idea. When rushing to the end, you only need one war horse to have strong physical strength, and you don’t need three war horses to maintain sufficient physical strength.

However, there is a problem. After the war horse is killed, the fur will be very wet and heavy. It is hard to say whether it is kept warm when worn on the body. If the fur can be dried, then it will definitely be kept warm.

"Well! This is a good idea!" The generals agreed in unison.

Slaughtering war horses is not a problem for the Han army. Unlike the Huns, the Huns were born with special feelings for war horses. It was a very sad thing to ask the Huns to slaughter war horses and would make them suffer. For the Han army, war horses were just a tool. As long as there was a need, they would be slaughtered.

As long as the Huns were defeated, the Han Dynasty would have more war horses, which was a good deal.

"Report to the Grand Marshal!" At this moment, a soldier arrived and greeted Zhou Yang. Without waiting for Zhou Yang to speak, he said with a smile: "Master, General Wei has prepared a camp for the Grand Marshal, please go camping!"

"Camp?" Zhou Yang was surprised.

Not only Zhou Yang was surprised, but also Li Guang, Cheng Buzhi, Zhang Gongsun He and others were not surprised.

The Han army brought a tent to the expedition this time, which was for camping. However, the Han army was still marching and had not stopped, and had not set up a tent to set up a tent. Where did the camp come from?

"Master, we killed a lot of Huns and seized their camp. Isn't this a ready-made camp?" The soldier said excitedly, "There are not only cattle, sheep, horses, and milk, but also a lot of firewood in the camp!"

"Chaihe?" Zhou Yang, Li Guang, Cheng Buzhi, Zhang Tong and others exclaimed in unison.

Just now, I was still worried about the coldness of the desert, and the soldiers said there was firewood. Isn’t this a timely help?

No, it is more exciting than timely help. This is the best way to maintain combat power!

With firewood, you can avoid frostbite and maintain your combat power. This is simply a blessing!

"That's great!" Li Guang, Cheng Buzhi and others cheered in unison, and their worries were wiped out.

"How much firewood is there?" Zhou Yang raised his eyebrows, not without much joy. As the commander, he had to consider the entire army, not whether he could keep warm.

"This is enough for 50,000 or 60,000 brothers." The soldier said with some regret: "We attacked several Xiongnu camps, but we never found the Xiongnu camps again. There is not much firewood!"

Most of the Huns were still in Longcheng, and only a small number of herders went south. It was already rare for Wei Qing to prepare firewood for the army of 50,000 or 60,000 to keep warm.

"Not bad! Not bad!" Zhou Yang nodded, praised him, and said, "Send the order to speed up the march. Then he said, the camp has been prepared in front of him, and there will be a warm tent tonight!"

"Master, are you lying?" Li Guang reminded: "Master, you have never broken your trust!"

The reason why Zhou Yang is loved by the soldiers is because Zhou Yang keeps his word. He said that he could do it and would definitely do it. It was only enough for the firewood used by the army of 50,000 or 60,000 troops, but he told Zhou Yang that it was enough for the entire army. This is not a deception, what else can it be?

"Yes!" Cheng Buzhi and others immediately agreed.

"Flying General, you are not tired of deceiving the soldiers!" Zhou Yang looked at the marching Han army and said, "If I tell them the truth, there are only 50,000 or 60,000 troops for firewood, do you think they will be more excited and strive to move forward?"

"That's true!" Li Guang and Cheng Buzhi stroked their foreheads and nodded in agreement.

Zhang Tong, Gongsun He, Gongsun Jian and others couldn't help but praise the clever plan.

As soon as the order was passed, the soldiers cheered in unison and moved forward with great speed, as if they had taken a strong medicine.

In such a cold and cold season, the most painful thing for the soldiers is the severe cold. When they heard that there was a warm tent in front of them, who would not be able to boost their morale? Who would not think about rushing to the camp quickly and drying well?

Zhou Yang's plan is similar to Cao Cao's "looking at plum blossoms to quench thirst".

Looking at the sudden acceleration of the military formation, Li Guang and Cheng Buzhi loudly praised him, slapped the horse and moved forward quickly.

Zhou Yang's brows were getting tighter and tighter. There were enough firewood for 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers, which means that there were nearly 200,000 Han soldiers to be frozen. What should I do?

Although I had long planned not to raise the fire, it was based on previous estimates. Now it seems that the desert is even colder. If the fire is not raised, no one will guarantee that the soldiers will be frostbite.

It's hard to solve this matter! Zhou Yang shook his head and had to leave this matter behind for the time being and follow up.

When it was almost dark, Wei Qing rode on a horse to welcome Zhou Yang's arrival.

As soon as they met, Zhou Yang praised Wei Qing: "Wei Qing, you did a good job!"

Wei Qing is worthy of being a famous general for all ages. It is rare to be able to achieve this point, and he cannot ask for more.

"The general is too rewarded!" Wei Qing said modestly and regretfully: "It's a pity that there is not enough firewood and the whole army cannot raise fire to keep warm. Many people will be frozen. It would be great if the Huns herders came more!"

The Huns have not yet made a large-scale move south, and these herdsmen are sporadic. It is already very rare to achieve such a reward.

"General Wei, you don't want to be too beautiful. There are no such beautiful things in the world! There are even fewer beautiful things on the battlefield!" Li Guang smiled and said, "It's already amazing that you can prepare a camp for 50,000 or 60,000 brothers."

This is a story of experience. There are too many unexpected things on the battlefield, and no one can tell what will happen. Take the current situation as an example. Zhou Yang did not expect that the desert was so cold and there was some lack of preparation.

This cannot be blamed on Zhou Yang. There are too many unexpected things in the war. Everything develops according to imagination. It can only exist in imagination and cannot exist. Even if we gather the greatest military genius in human history, it is impossible to have such a thing.

"If the Huns' tent was burned, maybe ten thousand brothers could be less frozen." Wei Qing made an idea.

The tabernacle was a necessary item for this march, so the Han army naturally prepared it. In this way, the tabernacle of the Xiongnu could be burned as firewood, which is indeed a good way.

"Well! Just do it!" Zhou Yang was right on the spot: "Wei Qing, what is the result of the battle?"

"Report to the Grand Marshal, this time, eight Hun camps were attacked, and there were no more nearby." Wei Qing began to report the results of the battle and said, "The Huns' forage and firewood were discovered, which are all things we urgently need now. Oh, there are a lot of cattle, sheep and horses, totaling nearly 200,000."

The Huns were nomadic peoples, and there were not many other people, but there were many cattle, sheep and horses. Although there were only eight camps, there were also many cattle, sheep and horses.

"How many?" Zhou Yang's eyes suddenly widened.

"The great commander, there are the most cattle and sheep, with 40,000 cattle and 50,000 cattle, more than 130,000 sheep, and fewer horses, only 30,000 or 20,000 horses." Wei Qing did not understand Zhou Yang's intention, and still reported it carefully.

"That's great!" Zhou Yang screamed, his voice sharp and sharp, and his body shook, and he almost fell from the horse's back. If he hadn't grasped the horse's hair tightly.

They all heard it. Zhou Yang's scream was full of excitement, as if he had discovered a new world. They were all surprised and looked at Zhou Yang.

"The order: slaughter all the cattle, sheep and horses!" Zhou Yang was so excited that he looked like a crowing rooster, and his neck stretched out: "Pick off the fur, dry it, and treat it as a clothes for cold protection!"

"Good idea!" Everyone praised in unison.

After the fur is newly peeled, it is very wet and draped on the body, it is heavy and tidey, and it is difficult to keep warm. If it is dried, it is a good cold-proof clothing. For today's Han army, it is like a timely help!

"Also, the soldiers are happy again. They can eat roasted lamb and roast beef from the Huns!" Li Guang patted his belly excitedly: "What a blessing!"

If you kill the cattle and sheep, you will eat beef and mutton. It is freshly roasted and hot, and then drink the hot horse's breasts. For the Han army, it is a delicacy, which is more comfortable than the delicacies of mountains and seas.

"No!" Zhou Yang shouted, interrupted Li Guang's words, and uttered a loud order: "All beef, mutton, horse meat are not allowed to be eaten!"

"Ah!" Everyone's mouth suddenly opened and looked at Zhou Yang with the look of looking at the monster.

If this wasn't said it from Zhou Yang's mouth, Li Guang and the others would have thought that Zhou Yang was talking nonsense. Beef and mutton are natural foods. If they are not eaten, what else can they be used for?

Can you use it to see it? It can’t be protected by the combat power of the Han army. Only by eating it can the Han army be protected by the combat power of the Han army!

Just when everyone was surprised, strange words came out of Zhou Yang's mouth: "I'm passing on my order: Whoever eats beef, mutton, and horse meat will be punished thirty times!"

"This, this..." Li Guang and his friends made a sound of grinding their teeth, looking at Zhou Yang, their eyes widened as if they didn't recognize Zhou Yang.

Beef and mutton are used for eating. Not only are they not allowed to eat, but they also have to be punished with thirty rods. Thirty military sticks are a heavy punishment. Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, there has been no such strange military order.

No, since Pangu opened the world, there has been no such divine military order, and Li Guang and the others were completely confused!

"Use beef, mutton and horse meat to raise the fire and keep warm!" Zhou Yang said loudly at the end.

"What? Keep warm?" The screams of the generals rang out, one after another. After they followed Zhou Yang for a long time, they had never heard of such a strange military order. It was really a god-like way. Only those who were entangled with ghosts would issue such military orders.

"Good idea! A brilliant idea!"

The surprise of the generals instantly turned into praise, one after another, and they all raised their thumbs. The thumbs were so high that they almost pierced the hazy sky.

What the Han army lacks most at the moment is not food and drink, but firewood. They eat cooked cakes, which are in full and are in eight days. From Han to Longcheng, it will take only six days at most. Zhou Yangte reserved two days of cooked cakes to take into account unexpected situations.

If you drink, there are horse's breasts. Even if you don't have horse's breasts, can't you find anything to drink in the snowy desert? There is ice and snow everywhere, and as long as there is fire, there will be hot water to drink.

Firewood is not enough. Even if the Xiongnu tent is added, it will only prevent the 60,000 to 70,000 Han troops from being frozen. If the cattle, mutton and horse meat are burned as firewood, isn’t this ready-made firewood?

Who said that beef and mutton can only be eaten, but not used as firewood?

This idea was definitely a trick among the tricks, and it solved the most urgent thing for the Han army in an instant. It was that it was a bit too extravagant. The god of the Huns and the great Kunlun god would definitely accuse Zhou Yang of: wasting the gift! It wasting the gift! It actually burned the food of the Great Huns warriors as firewood!

The most urgent matter was resolved. Li Guang and the others were all over the face and were so happy that they couldn't help but be very happy. They were so excited that they were like roosters crowing, raising their voices to convey Zhou Yang's military order: "The general has an order to kill the cattle, sheep, and horses of the Huns, and burn them as firewood!"
To be continued...