Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 1 Opening a Banquet and Introducing the Ancestral Tent (5)

The bonfire lit by the sergeants in the camp was blazing, shining on everyone's face. Tomorrow, they would enter the swamp along the trade road, and many people were excited and apprehensive.It was late at night, and most of the soldiers were cursing the damn cold, but Zhao Xingde knew that the colder the weather, the less water melted from ice and snow upstream, and Pu Changze would not suddenly flood because of the water coming from upstream.Due to the severe cold, the movement speed of the sand dunes is the slowest in a year.In the vicinity of Daliusha and Puchangze, this time is the safest.

Zhao Xingde checked that every sergeant in the team was asleep, and then he got into the tent, hugged the quilt and lay down on the cold and dry felt blanket, and soon fell asleep. Sometimes he dreamed of Li Ruoxue leaning on the door and leaning on the door, seeing him Come back and run over excitedly.Suddenly, he dreamed that Zhang Bing was looking at him with a pale face, and seemed to be talking, but he couldn't hear what he was saying.Suddenly I dreamed that at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the big steel factory that the later generations had worked so hard for, I suddenly saw my name engraved on a black stone tablet, and the people around me shoveled it, blood red The soil gradually covered itself in the boundless darkness without consciousness.

In the early morning of the next day, the bells of the sergeants on duty rang throughout the camp. The sergeants in the camp were in an orderly manner, some were cooking fires, some were feeding the horses, and some were packing up and binding the tents.Before the Mao hour arrived, five hundred sergeants lined up and left the station slowly along the road chosen yesterday.

Du Chuijiao and others tried their best to identify the aquatic plants along the way, the hooves of camels and horses, and the ruts.The sergeants of Chengying's [-]th Battalion led camels and carts, and marched slowly in the mud beside Puchangze.

The commercial road sometimes turned to the southwest, and sometimes turned to the north. After walking for six days and seven nights, the soldiers were a little dizzy before they came to a dry river.Looking at the quicksand covered under the river bed, Du Chuijiao's face was uglier than that of a dead man.The most important thing is that after following this trade route for a few days in the swamp and water grass, he still doesn't know where he is even if he is facing the map.

That night, we camped in the Populus euphratica forest on the bank of the dry river bed.During the military discussion, everyone looked at each other in blank silence.

After waiting for a while, Zhao Xingde made a confession, walked to the marching map, pointed out, said in a deep voice: "We are here." Then he retreated.During the six days along the way, he would measure the position every night when he camped, and he knew the situation of the army going around by Puchang Ze very clearly.

"So it's here!" Du Chuijiao was stunned for a moment, and just now he coughed, touched the place Zhao Deshi was pointing to, looked down, and couldn't help but show a happy face and said: "It won't be farther south. A hundred miles away is the Qiemo River."

At this moment, Wang Tongdeng sneered and said, "Swamps with no roads for a hundred miles, do you take human lives to fill them?"

Du Chuijiao was taken aback for a moment, and realized that he had made a slip of the tongue. He was not very responsible in the first place, but in his anxiety, he turned his attention to Zhao De again.

Zhao Xingde secretly sighed, although this old Du is a little bit narrow-minded, he has no intentions, no wonder he has always been a ten-man leader.Seeing that everyone's eyes followed Du Chuijiao's, he stood up again, pointed to the map and said, "There are mistakes, for the current plan, walk out of the swamp along this dry river, then turn to the south, and use Sinan to guide you." , will surely find the course of the Qiemo River.”

Only then did Du Chuijiao suddenly realize, and cursed himself for being completely overwhelmed by the frustration of 'lost'. He didn't even figure out such a simple truth, and immediately said: "Let's follow Zhao Shichang's suggestion."

Zhao Xingde's suggestion was originally one of the most reasonable choices. After Du Chuijiao agreed, other people also echoed.Originally, there were a few who wanted to speak out against it, but they stopped talking at this time.In the end, the ten chiefs discussed and decided to march according to the route proposed by Zhao De.

After walking along the dry riverbed for three days, and finally left the swamp, Zhao Xingde immediately directed the team to leave the river and head south.Every night I camped in the desert, surrounded by strange wind howling, like a ghost crying.Sometimes, strange rocks that have been eroded by wind and sand for thousands of years stand beside the dunes, like monsters.

The deeper you go in the desert, the more difficult it is to get water. It is only a few dozen miles away from the swamp. When camping at night, even if you dig three feet into the ground, there is no water.After the water source was cut off, the idea that the big quicksand "can go in and not come out" also secretly grew in everyone's minds, and many soldiers began to feel uneasy, hoping that it would be like what Zhao De said, and they would go south for two weeks. The sky is the Qiemo River.

Zhao Xingde was very calm on the surface, still observing the location of the marching camp every day, and carefully marked it on the map.In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Du Chuijiao asked Zhao De to spread out the map and show everyone where he marched today.

Although Zhao Xingde firmly believes that Guantian's positioning and Si Nanyi's direction will never be wrong.But the boundless sea of ​​sand and the Gobi naturally gave people a sense of despair. Seeing Zhao Xingde's composure, hundreds of robes unconsciously felt certain in his heart.And Zhao Xingde's longest trek was the one he fled from Bianjing with Li Ruoxue.His apprehension and apprehension could only be hidden under his calm and gentle face.

After walking south for four days, I finally saw it. Behind the undulating sand dunes, on the distant horizon, like a mirage, a forest with no end to the east and no end to the west.

"Is this Qiemohe?" Wang Tongdeng 'licked' his chapped lips and asked Jian Cheng.Jian Cheng looked to the side, Zhao Xingde nodded, and said in a deep voice, "That's right." At this moment, several people were listening to him with their ears upright.

"I found the way!" "This is the Qiemo River!"

Almost all the sergeants immediately believed in Zhao Xingde's judgment. As soon as he said this, several cheers erupted in the marching ranks.Wang Tongdeng accelerated his horse and rushed forward with the cavalry team. After crossing the Populus euphratica and red willow bushes, a frozen river suddenly appeared in front of him, winding like a jade dragon among the sand embankments on both sides.The overjoyed cavalry immediately turned their horses, turned back to the outside of the woods, and shouted to the crowd of people: "That's right! This is the Qiemo River!" Immediately, even more enthusiastic cheers broke out among the soldiers of the Chengying Camp in the distance Voice.

"Old Zhao, I told you that you are definitely fine." Jian Cheng punched Zhao Xingde on the shoulder.

Zhao Xingde didn't even bother to fight back. Together with hundreds of soldiers, he cheered loudly and released all the pressure accumulated in the past ten days.Until now, there was a sense of relief.

The march along the Qiemo River went quite smoothly. Fifteen days later, when the distance was estimated to be approaching Qiemo City, Zhao De suggested that five hundred soldiers unfurl the banner of the Seventh Battalion of the Chengying Army. Singing military songs, marching towards the city.All the sergeants have been in the army for a long time, so they naturally know that no matter how tired they are during the journey, they must cheer up when they arrive.Therefore, the ten husbands' commanders agreed to Zhao De's proposal again.

"The white horse is decorated with gold, and gallops north and west. If you ask who is the son, you are a knight-errant. When you go to the village when you are young, you will raise your voice and hang down in the desert. In the past, you used a good bow, and the arrows are different. The one who controls the string is broken on the left, and the one on the right. Destroying Yuezhi...sacrificing his life to go to the country's calamity, seeing death as his home."

The faint sound of military songs spread to Qiemo City. Zhou Yuanzhong, the commander of the Chengying Army, smiled and looked at the military flag of the Seventh Battalion. The cavalry was in front, with carriages and camels in the middle, and the infantry was behind, marching Strict and tidy, quite a bit of a strong soldier's posture.

Luo Zongmeng, commander of the Suiran Army, praised: "The Chengying Army is really formed by gathering the elite of the Forbidden Army. It has marched nearly a thousand miles, and its morale is high." Luo Zongmeng and Zhou Yuanzhong both served in the Longya Army. Khotan rushed over to entertain him.

Hearing Luo Zongmeng's praise, Zhou Yuanzhong felt complacent, and scolded with a smile: "These guys also have intentions. I will punish this mistake of making private military flags lightly." The military flag of Chengying, which is being shot now, was painted on the flag by the sergeant with charcoal ash.