(The great rewards of the alliance and the votes of book friends have added endless motivation to Shiwulang. Well, keep the evening and fight for another half a month.)

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Mu Usu, Mongolian means "bad water", but before the fifth century AD, it was a piece of "good water" comparable to the south of the Yangtze River. In the southern part of Mu Usu (now Baichengzi, north of Jingbian County, Shaanxi), he was once a Hun.

The political and economic center of the country. At that time, the grassy beach was vast, the river water was clear, the water and grass were plump, and the scenery was pleasant. It was the pasture that nomads yearned for the most.

It is precisely because this pasture is too plump, the Hun tribes are fighting each other, wars are frequent, and wars are severely damaged. In addition, the Southern Huns' regime center has been stranded here for a long time, overgrazing, and hundreds of years of climate change, etc.

The ground vegetation was lost and sand was raised on the spot. It began to accumulate sand in the Tang Dynasty. By the Song Dynasty, the desertification of Mu Usu expanded to the southeast, and by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the vast desert had formed.

However, at the reciprocity of the two Song dynasties, desertification was not as serious as later generations. At this time, the Muwusand area was at the junction of several natural areas. The northwest of it was a semi-desert area; the southwest to Yanzhou area was half-desert area.

The wasteland area; the southeast is the forest grassland area.

This is why although Xixia has vast territory, all prefectures, including the capital, are crowded in the narrow and narrow lines of the southeast and southwest areas. If you put a good large area of ​​land, you will not develop, reclaim, build a city, and live and die with the Song Dynasty.

The country competes for those hundreds of miles, and it will last for a hundred years. If it continues according to the original historical trajectory, it will have to fight for another hundred years. The country will not perish for a day and the territorial dispute will continue for a day.

The 12th Division of the Chinese Army's long-distance attack was to solve this stubborn problem once and for all - it was necessary to destroy the country and destroy the clan before it could calm down? Then let's help you.

On March 17th, the army crossed the Zhuirun River and officially entered Mu Usu. The one who walked at the front of the team was a guide team. The leader of the guide team, well, he is also an old acquaintance, Sun Zhangong and Sun Dahuzi were also.

Sun Zhangong. The former commander of the Shahu Fort. As the first transit station for trade with the Xia people, Sun Zhangong, as the commander, naturally benefited a lot, and his life was quite prosperous. Even though

During this period, China and Xia had tense relations, but on the border, there were still many merchants from both countries secretly smuggling, and killing Hubao could still benefit a lot from it.

The Chinese state is obviously cracking down on the smuggling, but is condoned below. Because what China needs is the import of various raw materials from the Xia State, but most of the Xia State gets from the Chinese State, it is silk.

Luxury goods such as porcelain are determined by the different needs of the two countries. This kind of trade is something that China is happy to see, not to mention that it can infiltrate the intelligence spies. And the effect is also very obvious -

The precise topographic map of Xia Kingdom on the case of Emperor Di Lie of the Chinese Emperor is the credit of the spies of the Intelligence Department.

Sun Zhangong was a commander who was neither up nor down. Although his life was very comfortable, his ordinary days still failed to destroy the passionate ambition of this man in the northwest. You must know that the previous Shahu Fort was at the forefront of the border between Song and Xia.

There are wars every year, lack of food and clothing, and are extremely difficult. How can those who can take root in such a place be greedy for comfort? When the heavens were punished and the northern expedition, Sun Zhangong once went to the fifth reorganized division of his troops.

The department submitted a letter and requested to participate. Of course, it was not approved.

Just as Sun Zhangong was disappointed and sighed when he lost a chance to be a man, he suddenly ordered him to be summoned to the headquarters of the Fifth Army of Lintong, and was summoned by Deputy Chief of Staff Zhao Neng himself, but the focus was on asking about his early experience.

.

Faced with a senior military general who was seven or eighth level higher than him, Sun Zhangong did not dare to hide anything and answer any questions. It turned out that when Sun Zhangong was not in the early years, he was in Henan Province in the Xia Kingdom.

He was a horse thief on the Gobi Plateau and knew a lot about Mu Usu's geographical environment. During this experience, he talked about the intelligence detectives who were fighting for the Hu Fort after drinking, and the spies naturally reported it. This expedition was made by the Western Expedition.

The Intelligence Department immediately took it into sight - this was the best guide for this operation. Sun Zhangong was so happy to learn that he would be able to participate in a battle against Xia Qi. Without saying a word, he would not go back to kill Hubao.

, directly hit the horse and report to the 12th Division.

The Twelfth Division had previously recruited many Khitans and Mongolians as guides, but this action was too important and he did not dare to put all his treasures on a group of aliens who came for commissions. Let Sun Zhangong, who is also familiar with the path, do it.

The team leader can play a supervisory role, which is equivalent to having double insurance, but it is best.

When more than 10,000 soldiers of the 12th Division first stepped into the desert, they were attracted by the Gobi Canyon that was like a knife and axe-chief, the flat and vast sandy field, and the scenery that was completely different from the south of the Great Wall. The speed of entry was so fast.

Unfortunately, this interest did not last long and realized the unpredictable power of the world.

On March 19th, the generals of the 12th Division, who were secretly happy for the smooth marching, did not maintain their good mood for a long time, and were soon swept away by a sudden thunderstorm and strong winds and hail.

In Muwusu, heavy rain often occurs in spring and summer, and there are many hail disasters. There is a local folk saying "2nd, August, Longkou robs food", which means that large-scale hail disasters are prone to occur during this period. At this time, it is spring and summer.

pay……

Lightning and thunder, wind and rain, hail like bombs, mud and stones fell. This is the first blow that Mu Usu gave to the soldiers of the 12th Division.

In the vast wilderness, dark clouds were covered with darkness; thunder rolled, as if it was exploding in my ears; pale lightning illuminated the faces that were equally pale by the heavy rain; the horses ran around,

Soldiers chased in the wind and rain, and if they were not careful, they would fall into the mud. If they hold the reins or put on the horse pole, it would be fine to let go in time. If they were slower by one or a half minutes, they would even be dragged, trampled, and rescued by the frightened horse.

Not as good as...

The generals below Yue Fei, beating the hail, made the iron helmet jingle, ran around, shouting and commanding at the top of their lungs. The sound penetrated the wind and rain, but was finally drowned by thunder.

Fortunately, before departure, Yue Fei had conducted training for his subordinates for more than half a month based on the suggestions of the emperor and the General Staff, and the content included training on how to deal with thunderstorms. After experiencing the initial panic, the soldiers finally came to

Under the leadership of the grassroots non-commissioned officers at all levels, they went through a lot of trouble. They surrounded 600 chariots and 1,000 transport vehicles into a defensive circle. First, a large number of war horses and camels were encircled in the middle to prevent these important transport capacities from being lost; then they were urgently built.

The tent, all tents, are close to the inside of the vehicle, increasing their ability to resist the strong wind; finally, except for the groom and the lord, they must stay with their livestock. All the soldiers, all went into the tent and chariots.

.Even if it is crowded, it doesn’t matter if people are suppressed. As long as you can avoid wind and rain and hail that can make people beat their heads and bloody.

After two long hours of hard suffering, I finally managed to see the sun and the moon, the wind stopped, the rain stopped, the hail stopped, and the thunder disappeared - the most difficult thing on the Western Expedition. I finally got through it.

When Yue Fei, Wang Gui, Xu Qing and other generals, with crooked helmets and slanted armor, and their noses and faces were swollen from the chariot and tents, they all gasped in air conditioners - the entire temporary camp seemed to be surrounded by horses and horses. Like a camp, it was a mess. There were flags, swords, guns, ammunition, armored cards, rice, grain, and buckets everywhere, and almost no soldiers were injured. The most shocking thing was that the iron baffle on the roof of the chariot was beaten to a pothole ,The thick wooden walls on both sides are hidden. The cracks are hidden, as if they have just been baptized by the whirlwind cannon of the Xia Kingdom's Xijun...

At this time, the sky was dark. It was just broken and the soldiers were exhausted. Yue Fei had to order the entire army to camp on the spot, dig ditches and drain water, and build cars. He could not find dry firewood to make fire, so he had to soak the buns in water and wait. After softening, I barely dealt with it.

The next day, the loss statistics report came out: 157 soldiers were slightly injured, five died, and nine were missing. Nearly a hundred horses were separated, more than 20 stones were damaged by the grain, and the bucket and water tank were damaged and leaked. , close to 10% of the total. In addition, there are thousands of injured war horses and slightly injured soldiers. More than 300 military doctors in the medical battalion were really busy.

Yue Fei looked at the number of losses and frowned into the word "chuan". Xu Qing scolded the thief. Wang Gui shook his head and sighed. It was not good to go out! How far he went, he broke more than a dozen people - missing in such a desolate field. It is equivalent to being sentenced to death.

Faced with this irresistible power of heaven and earth, Yue Fei had no choice but to order: "Suppose the craftsman to repair the damaged wooden barrels, fill all the water in the trench, and use it for camels and horses to drink. Take a day off and tomorrow Keep on the road.”

The characteristic of the Gobi Desert is that yesterday's storm and rainstorm, and today it is possible that there will be no clouds. The soldiers of the 12th Division quickly felt this. When the army gradually approached the desert area, the sun was extremely hot during the day, and it was still cold at night. It makes people shudder.

After the seventh day of the march, more and more sick soldiers, including war horses, had seriously dragged down the process of the army. Yue Fei had to draw a cavalry and infantry army, a team of military doctors, and more than 200 people. The injured and seriously injured people formed a wounded barracks, leaving enough supplies, and traveled along while treating them, leaving far behind at the end of the large army.

Despite all these difficulties, Sun Zhangong and seven or eight guides unanimously confirmed that the army was indeed advancing westward in the correct direction and had already traveled nearly half. This news was enough to encourage Yue Fei and his generals. , sweep away the decline a while ago.

On March 27th, five miles ahead of the army, a team of squadrons who were on the road exploration and diving mission were found. They found a group of sand thieves and immediately rushed to report to the division headquarters.

Yue Fei instructed to take it all and not let anyone go, so as not to leak news.

Xu Qing was about to get sick these days. When he heard that there were enemies to bully, he volunteered and personally led 300 cavalrymen to reinforce.

But in such a round trip, when Xu Qing led 300 cavalry to the scene, everything was over.

Fifty hard-hitting detectives riding and whistle, taking advantage of the advantage of one man and two horses, quickly caught up with the sand thieves. In terms of what, like five sharp blades, they cut the sand thieves riding a horse or camel into five sections. With bows and arrows, hands Crossbow, javelin, eagle-beak gun, thunder bullet... The whole family came together, and within two moments, the group of more than 70 or 80 people, a large-scale sand thief team was wiped out.

Xu Qing smacked his lips and shook his head, not knowing whether he sighed that his cavalry was too strong or that this sand thief was too scumbag.

A cavalry ran towards him from a distance, and the knight immediately swung a sand thief under his siege on the sand, then raised his hand to lift his helmet and greeted Xu Qing: "Uncle Xu San, I have captured a thief leader."

Xu Qing laughed loudly, and rode forward, and whipped the knight's shoulder armor with a horse whip intimately: "Good boy, he is worthy of being the seed of the fifth brother (Yue Feixingwu)!"

This knight is nothing else. It is Yue Yun, a young man who was sixteen years old.

Didn’t Yue Yun work in Yang Zaixing’s First Army? Why did he transfer to the Fourth Army? He even joined Yue Fei’s command?

This matter is a bit tortuous. Just as Di Lie expected. Yue Yun in the Northern Expedition shone brightly. He first fought against Lugou Bridge and killed Ma Zhi with one blow, making a big splash. After the war, he jumped from an ordinary soldier to rise.

He was the leader of the team and was personally awarded a Qingjia deck for the Party, and rewarded him with money. He fought in Qipanshan again and beheaded at the sixth level. He was all the leaders of the belt and promoted to the capital with his merits. He fought in Beijing three times and was brave and fearless.

As a titty tiger, he was the first to climb to the capital. After the war, he was awarded a second-level silver medal and promoted to deputy commander for his merits.

In just half a year, he has been promoted from a mere small soldier to an intermediate officer. Such a speed is indeed a sarcastic tale for a 16-year-old boy. And Yue Yun's real record is even

The most picky person has nothing to say.

Yue Fei had nothing to say. But he was very uneasy about his son's rapid upgrade. So he asked to transfer it to his twelve divisions, and Di Lie agreed happily. Others speculated whether Yue Fei wanted to use him to be promoted to the West.

The convenience of conquering the commander of the army group was to accumulate military merits and pave a broader road for his son to accumulate military merits and promote them. Only Di Lie knew. On the contrary, Yue Fei would definitely suppress Yue Yun's military merits. Just like in history, he would not only let the horse run away, but also

Don't give this thousand-mile horse to grass.

In history, Yue Yun had outstanding military achievements, but he was suppressed by Yue Fei many times and did not repay him. Yue Yun had no complaints. However, in China, there was the strictest military reward mechanism, and Di Lie, the emperor, was particularly focused on him.

This time, Yue Fei wanted to suppress his son's military achievements, hehe, it was not that easy.

Yue Fei interrogated more than 20 surviving sand thieves, but found nothing unusual. He immediately ordered the swordsman to push him out and behead him.

The thief leader kowtowed and begged for mercy, saying that he was eating too much lard and was heartbroken, so he shouldn't have collided with the army. He really never thought that the Han Tianjun army appeared on this desolate desert. He was Xia Country

The brother of a commander of the Shunjunsi in the right wing was willing to ask for ransom from his brother and redeem his life.

Yue Fei, the right wing, moved his heart and pondered for a moment. He ordered the soldiers to arrest the thieves and guarded them strictly.

...

On March 29th, more than ten days after the army set out, the biggest ordeal on the Western Expedition came - an unprecedentedly violent sandstorm was about to attack violently.

It was noon, the sky was cloudless and the sun was burning. The army was about to camp, intending to avoid the hottest moment of noon and only set off in the evening. Suddenly, the guide team leading the way ahead desperately urged to ride a camel, as if crazy

Run back.

The soldiers stopped their work, gathered in a group, ready to fight the enemy. However, seven or eight guides shouted: "Big sandstorm! Big sandstorm!"

As the guides exclaimed in panic, they saw a dark subway curtain slowly coming in the northwest direction...

The soldiers of the 12th Division, who have endured the hardships of wind, rain, hail, small sandstorms, scorching sun, stinging poisonous insects, etc., already have considerable experience in avoiding risks. Without urging the officials, take action immediately. The groom drives his hands to lead the livestock.

Go to a place to guard; the auxiliary soldiers and the transport vehicles gathered together into three circular car cities with shaped shapes, connected by vehicles; vertical tents, tighten grain bags, seal water tanks... As the sandstorm comes

Before, all people and animals entered the predetermined safe shelter.

All preparations are done and the personnel are done. Whether you can survive depends on God’s will.

The moment when the sandstorm rolled up the yellow sand in the sky, it seemed as if it was the end of the world, and the whole world was in chaos. Except for the roar that was enough to tear the eardrums, nothing could be heard or seen. There were countless in the darkness.

Horses, camels, and even guards were swept by violent wind and sand for dozens, hundreds, or even miles away. I don't know how many chariots and transport vehicles were blown by the strong wind, breaking the shaft of the chariot, losing the hook

The vehicles are tilted all the way, like weeds in the wind...
To be continued...