The great man will live forever

Chapter 50 World War II Hexi (Desert March)
Spring passed quietly, summer came, and in a blink of an eye it came to the sixth day of May in 122 BC.

A fierce quarrel broke out in Huo Qubing's mansion. After some quarrel, he finally calmed down.

Liu Han's tone softened, "Just wait a little longer, your injury hasn't healed yet."

This was probably Liu Han's first quarrel with Huo Qubing and his first blush.

Huo Qubing rarely explained, "If we wait a little longer, the Xiongnu will be able to accumulate strength. I just want to catch them by surprise. The Xiongnu didn't expect that we would go out at this time."

Liu Han said helplessly: "But your injury is not completely healed. It has been a hundred days of muscle and bone damage. It has only been two months now. This time it is another long-distance march, and you even have to go around the desert. It is very bad for your health. Can’t you take care of your body?”

"If you can surrender the Xiongnu, bring out the majesty of the Han Dynasty, and bring long-term peace to the world, why would you regret this life?"

"I don't want you to die too early. We are still young and there is still a long time. Don't think that you are young and your body can be ruined casually. You have to fight and travel long distances. The environment is still very bad, such as deserts, scorching sun, and mountains. , there are swamps, and most people can't stand it. I almost couldn't stand it last time. I was so frightened that I didn't have enough to eat and didn't sleep well. I was afraid that the enemy would come and kill me. It would be easy to die. What if the whole army was wiped out? Are you worthy of them?"

Liu Han's eyes were a little red as he spoke. He commanded thousands of troops and horses. He was invincible vertically and horizontally and pushed thousands of miles. How amazing. Only personal experience can tell that people will die in war. The soldiers and comrades under his command yesterday may die today. Well, 1 people went out to fight, and only about 3000 came back.

The victory of a general and the glory of a great man are made from piles of bones.

The environment is harsh, the mind is under great pressure, and the person travels long distances without being able to rest even for a moment. It feels like he can't even sleep peacefully. The physical exhaustion and mental pain and tiredness are very torturous.

"Then are you afraid?"

"I am afraid, but I am afraid that you will die from exhaustion and that you will die young. I want you to live and live for a long time."

Liu Han said, looking directly into his eyes.

Perhaps knowing that Liu Han cared about him, Huo Qubing smiled and patted his shoulder.

"If I am like a stone, a tree, or a tortoise, doing nothing, what's the point of living longer? Well, after fighting this battle, I will take a good rest. I am still young, and I know my own body. .”

You know what the heck, you can work hard and rest after fighting this battle. Only the devil will believe you. Until you die, you have been fighting, and they are all big battles, so you haven't had much rest.

What he said was like a pie-in-the-sky pie by the bosses of future generations. As long as you work hard, you will get a promotion and a raise in the future.

"Can't you keep it up any longer?"

Huo Qubing shook his head, his eyes full of determination.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to go. I'll tell Your Majesty myself. After all..."

Liu Han had no choice but to say, "Go to Hell and Yellow Spring, and I will risk my life to accompany you."

"Haha, I knew I would win this battle!"

……

So, on the tenth day of May in 122 BC, even though the injury was not completely healed, at the request of Huo Qubing and the consideration of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

Only two or three months had passed since Huo Qubing's first campaign in the Hexi Corridor, and Liu Che decided to send two armies to conquer the Huns again.

The first group, led by Huo Qubing and Gongsun Ao, set out from Beidi County to attack the Hexi Corridor. The seat of Beidi County is Maling Town, southeast of today's Huan County, Gansu Province.

The second route, led by Li Guang and Zhang Qian, set off from Youbeiping County, which is located southwest of Ningcheng County in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region today.

In the second line, Li Guang led 4 cavalry and Zhang Qian led 1 cavalry. Their mission was to defeat the Xiongnu left tribe Zuoxianwang, thereby mobilizing the main cavalry of the Xiongnu Chanyu to move eastward and prevent the Xiongnu Chanyu's headquarters from rescuing the Hexi Xiongnu. Cut off Huo Qubing's retreat, and with the Hexi Xiongnu and the Xiongnu Youxian King, Huo Qubing's troops were shut down and beaten.

Sima Qian's "Historical Records" does not record how many people Huo Qubing brought this time, but Liu Han knew that it was [-] cavalry. Because he won the last bet, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty increased the bet and doubled the number of troops, and they were all elites. of the elite.

Liu Han didn't say much goodbye to Xiao Taohong and Ayimei because he was afraid that Xiao Taohong would cry.

Parting is a painful thing, but it is also the second most romantic thing in the world, because as long as a person is alive, every encounter after parting is a reunion and joy, and reunion is the most romantic thing in the world.

The last time he went to Hexi, during Huo Qubing's spring offensive, he and Liu Han set out from Longxi, crossed Gaolan Mountain, crossed the Yellow River, passed through Jincheng and Lingju, crossed Wuting against the current, and entered the Hexi Corridor from Gulang Gorge in Wushaoling. .Wushaoling is a very important place. It is located in the middle of Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Wuwei City, Gansu Province. It belongs to the southeastern end of Lenglong Ridge, the northern branch of the Qilian Mountains. It is the natural boundary between the Longzhong Plateau and the Hexi Corridor. It is also a semi-arid area. The dividing line that transitions to the arid zone is also the westernmost point where the East Asian monsoon reaches.

It is about 17 kilometers long from east to west and about 10 kilometers wide from north to south. The main peak is 3562 meters above sea level. The weather is always cold. There is a description of Wushaoling in the chronicles that "it snows in midsummer and the cold air bites the bones."

It faces Longdong to the east and Hexi to the west. It has always been a battleground for military strategists, and it is also the most convenient and quick place to enter the Hexi Corridor. However, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The last time Huo Qubing and Liu Han were able to get through was because the Xiongnu did not expect that the Han army would attack so quickly. By the time they reacted, tens of thousands of troops had already passed through Wushaoling.

This time it won't work. The Huns are not fools. They have suffered a loss once. They must take precautions on this route. If they continue to take this route during the summer offensive, they will easily be blocked by the enemy at Gulang Gorge in Wushaoling. , either you can't get through or you can't come back, or you may suffer heavy casualties.

When a champion goes on an expedition, what he wants is to take them by surprise and attack them unprepared, so this time, Huo Qubing decided to adopt a deep and roundabout strategy, taking a direct detour and catching the Huns by surprise.

He and Liu Han led the army from Beidi County, entered the Ulan Buh Desert to the north of the Helan Mountain, and then headed to Juyanze along the northern edge of the Badain Jaran Desert.

Juyanze is today's Juyanhai. It originates from the Ruoqiang River deep in the Qilian Mountains, which is today's Heihe River. After flowing through the three provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Inner Mongolia for more than 800 kilometers, it merges into two areas on the northwest edge of the Badain Jaran Desert. The Gobi depression, today in the northern part of Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia, forms two large lakes in the east and west, collectively known as Juyanhai. The one in the east is called Subonur, and the one in the west is called Kashunnur.

This journey is very hard. Walking in the desert is an extremely difficult thing. There are many dangers, such as sandstorms, lack of water, lack of food, getting lost, animal attacks, weather changes...

What’s even more frightening is that the temperature difference in desert areas is large. The average annual temperature difference can reach 30-50℃, and the daily temperature difference is even greater. The ground temperature can reach over 60℃ at noon in summer. If you bury an egg in the beach, it will be cooked soon, and the egg will be cooked at night. The temperature has dropped below 10℃, which is so cold that it can kill someone...

Various reasons make the desert almost a forbidden area for life. Except for some highly evolved animals and plants, it is difficult for other life to survive in the desert for a long time.

This large area of ​​desert from the west of the Yellow River to the Central Gobi, the Badain Jaran Desert covers an area of ​​approximately 4.43 square kilometers, the Tengger Desert covers an area of ​​approximately 4.27 square kilometers, and the Ulan Bhe Desert covers an area of ​​approximately 0.99 square kilometers...

Coupled with the Yabulai Mountains, the entire area covers an area of ​​more than 10 square kilometers, almost the size of Jiangsu or Zhejiang Province, and is dominated by mobile sand dunes. It is really difficult to cross it.

Huo Qubing was very smart. He chose to walk around the desert, but it was still very difficult.

He and Gongsun Ao divided their troops into two groups, one in front and one behind. General Huo Qubing set off first with [-] cavalry. Half a month later, Lieutenant General Gongsun Ao set off with [-] cavalry.

Huo Qubing's army and Liu Han set out from the northern foot of Helan Mountain, carrying enough dry food for ten days. On the first day, they came to a small oasis. The Shanghe Nongdu Lieutenant's Mansion had already sent people to drive away thousands of fat sheep, and they would kill them as soon as the army arrived. Sheep rewarded the army, and all the sheep were penned up, because there was a small amount of pasture left for Huo Qubing's army's horses.

The next day, Huo Qubing's army returned to an oasis between Langshan Mountain and Yabulai Mountain. There were still fat sheep prepared by the Nongdu Lieutenant...

But starting from the third day, in the vast desert, the road was difficult to find, and the Nongdu Wei Mansion was unable to help, Liu Han and Huo Qubing's army could only rely on themselves.

The [-]-strong army marched day and night, and could not travel during the day. The temperature was too high, and the horses could not walk and would suffer from heat stroke. Not only the horses, but also people would suffer from heat stroke if they walked.

Horses can suffer from heat stroke. High temperature and high humidity weather, that is, sauna days, are especially likely to cause heat stroke in horses.Horse heatstroke is an emergency, and if not treated promptly, the horse can die within hours.

Horses have well-developed sweat glands, and sweating is the horse's main way of dissipating heat. When the temperature is higher than 31 degrees and the air humidity is greater than 65%, the horse's sweat evaporates and dissipates less heat, and the heat cannot be dissipated, which can easily lead to heatstroke.

They followed the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert in search of nearby oasis. In order to reduce the loss of body water, the entire route was winding and the marching distance was more than a thousand miles.

After twelve days and nights, we have to walk such a long distance into the desert. People have dry food to hold on, but the war horses simply cannot bear it. Not every oasis can feed [-] war horses.

Huo Qubing and Gongsun Ao set off one after another, considering that the capacity of the oasis was limited. After Huo Qubing passed, half a month later, new grass might have grown in the oasis that Gongsun Ao passed by.

In the last few days, even the war horses fell one after another, and most people dismounted and walked, dragging weapons and supplies with ropes. By the time they arrived at Juyanze, more than 5000 war horses had been lost, and there was no longer enough for one person and one horse...

But thankfully, they arrived.

　"Han Shu Wei Qing Huo Qu Bing Biography"

　　In the summer, Qubing and Heqihou Ao both left the north and went on different routes.Bowang Hou Zhang Sai and Lang Zhong ordered Li Guang to come out of Youbeiping and follow a different path.General Guang's four thousand cavalry arrived first, and Qian's general ten thousand cavalry came behind.King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu surrounded Guangzhou with tens of thousands of cavalry, and fought for two days. More than half of them died, and they were killed excessively.

　　When Qian arrived, the Huns led their troops away.If Qian sits or walks, he should be beheaded and redeemed as a commoner.When Qubing went out of the north, he went deep into the country, and the horsemen and horses lost their way and couldn't get along with each other.After Qubing went to Qilian Mountain, many prisoners were captured.On the previous day: "General Piaoqi went to Junqi to help Juyan, then he reached the Xiaoyue clan, attacked the Qilian Mountains, and used his force to win. He captured Shanyu Shanhuan, Chief Tuwang, as well as the Prime Minister and the Duwei who all surrendered. Thousands and 500 people, it can be said that they can surrender and know the success and then stop. The Czechoslovak captured 59, and captured five kings, the Queen Mother, Shan Yulan's family, 63 princes, [-] prime ministers, generals, officials, and captains. The rate of the Normal University was reduced by ten-three, and [-] households were cured of diseases.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)