Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 423

A month later, the [-] Western Expeditionary Army had penetrated more than a thousand miles into the vast Kunlun.

They entered the real wilderness. The forests and grasslands that could be seen before had disappeared, and even flying birds were rare.

Looking around, the surroundings are full of peaks with no vegetation and jagged mountains. The peaks are covered with snow that does not melt all the year round.People and horses walk on it, and they have to be careful with every step, otherwise they will sprain their feet, or even be pierced by sharp stones...

What's more terrible is that the air has also become very thin, and breathing without any feeling has become extremely laborious.If the activity is too large, the lungs will be on fire, and you will be out of breath like a bellows.

Moreover, the sun is obviously not too harsh, but direct exposure to the sun will burn the skin for a while, and then the whole body will be hot for several days, and it will hurt even to move, until the sunburned skin falls off, and then repeats itself.Everyone's skin turned into maroon willow bark, as rough as sandpaper.

After a long time in such a harsh environment, the soldiers who were still full of energy when they set off, talking and laughing, all became silent, only the sound of heavy breathing one after another.

To protect them from the sun, they covered their heads with robes, leaving only their eyes to look at the road under their feet.It's useless to look forward, because the front is also the same scene, except for the rocks, which are gravel.

If it wasn't for the rushing Shaliu River beside them, pointing out the direction for them, the soldiers would have lost their way many times.

But they still wonder from time to time, could they have gone the wrong way?How could there be tens of thousands of people and livestock hiding in such a place.

Deng Yu didn't ride a horse either, walking silently on the gravel road like ordinary soldiers.It's not that he intends to share weal and woe with the soldiers, but that it's impossible to ride a horse on this kind of road. Otherwise, if the horse stumbles, a person falls off the horse, and the bones are broken.

After walking in silence for a while, the scouts who explored the road came back before the sun set.

The soldiers brought him to Deng Yu, who cast him a questioning look.

The scout shook his head, Deng Yu sighed in disappointment, and waved his hand to signal him to rest.

Then he hissed to Mu Ying beside him, "Let's go to camp."

Mu Ying nodded, and forced the spiritual command staff to arrange vigilance, set up deer villages, and bury pots for cooking.

Especially cooking must be done quickly, because the fire must be turned off before dark.Otherwise, after dark, the light of the fire is the beacon for the attackers.

But among the mountains, the sun always couldn't wait to set. Before the soldiers boiled the water, the sky was completely dark.They had no choice but to step on the fire and eat with unboiled water.

Rice soaked in water is a field ration invented by the Ming army.It is to dehumidify and dry the rice after steaming, so that it can be stored for a long time.In the environment of Kunlun Mountain, it will not go bad for a few months.Soak it in hot water when eating, and you can eat it directly, which is very convenient.

The main non-staple food is to mix fermented soybeans with crushed salt, make them into biscuits and dry them in the sun.When eating, peel off a piece that is the size of a jujube pit, and eat it with rice to add salt and increase the taste.

In fact, the Ming army had a high status and strong security in the early days of the country. They even had dried meat, moon cakes, and candied fruit to eat when they set off, but these delicious foods have been exhausted by now.

Apart from these two foods right now, there is only a little pot helmet and fried noodles left...

The soldiers sat together in groups of three or four, eating rice and beans in silence, without complaining.In fact, they didn't have the energy to complain anymore, they just wanted to finish their meal quickly and fall asleep.

As everyone knows, even these two kinds of food are not much...

The supply officer came to Deng Yu's side and reported in a low voice: "Marshal, there are still ten days left..."

"..." Deng Yu's face was extremely ugly, and the cooking cake in his hand was hard to swallow.

"Is the supply reduced starting tomorrow?" Mu Ying whispered.

"..." Deng Yu shook his head. After entering the plateau, the soldiers had consumed a lot. They just marched normally, and the rations they needed could catch up with the battle.This is also an important reason why the military rations bottomed out half a month earlier than expected.

But he didn't dare to reduce the food for the soldiers. First of all, if they don't have enough to eat, it will greatly weaken the physical strength of the soldiers, and even affect their ability to compete with the plateau and snow-capped mountains.

And Deng Yu knew that the soldiers were very sensitive to food.Especially in this difficult time, finding that the ration quota has decreased will seriously damage their morale.

"Tomorrow, we will start slaughtering animals. We will kill donkeys, mules and pack horses first, leaving only war horses." After a long silence, Deng Yu finally gave the order.

"Here." The luggage officer nodded, and then asked hesitantly: "In this case, the luggage can't..."

"Throw away everything except the necessary ones." Deng Yu said in a deep voice.

"Yes." The delivery officer responded.

"Slaughtering animals also hurts morale?" Mu Ying said in a low voice.

"It doesn't matter, I will tell the soldiers first that these animals are prepared rations." Deng Yu said lightly: "It's just that it's time to eat them."

"The commander-in-chief can really calm people's hearts..." Mu Ying couldn't help admiring: "The last general has learned another trick."

"Hehe..." Deng Yu smiled, and was about to speak when he suddenly coughed violently, his face flushed red.

Mu Ying hurriedly handed him water and massaged Ojo, finally stopped coughing.

"The handsome's cough is getting worse."

"Before I entered the mountain, I was as strong as an ox. It seems that I am not the opponent of Kunlun Mountain." Deng Yu smiled wryly, and suddenly sighed: "Oh, I never thought of chasing a thousand miles, and I haven't seen it yet." The figure of Tubo."

According to pre-estimates, the various ministries of Tubo, with their families and animals, could hide for hundreds of miles at most...

"The opponent this time knows the commander and our Ming army." Mu Ying smiled wryly.

"Well, King Yu of the Northern Yuan Dynasty fought with us from Xuanfu to Hezhou, so he must be familiar with us." Deng Yu nodded and said: "However, this is not only a problem that can be solved by understanding."

After a pause, he whispered: "I guess, our previous judgment was wrong. Their hiding place is not necessarily right by the river."

"No way, tens of thousands of people eat horse chews, how much water is used every day, how can they live without water?" Mu Ying said in disbelief.

In addition to their previous speculation, because the various tribes of Tubo brought the old and weak, women, children and livestock, they must have hidden in valleys and canyons in the Kunlun Mountains where there are sheltered places where rivers pass.

This kind of place is often humid and warm and has pasture growth, so it is possible to carry tens of thousands of people for refuge.Of course it has to be big enough.

Therefore, since the Western Expeditionary Army entered the Kunlun Mountains, they have been searching along the rivers, even the tributaries. They have found some such valleys and canyons, but there are no traces of the Tubo tribes.

"We neglected one thing." Deng Yu pointed to the white spot in the distance, which was the snow on the top of the mountain.

"Snow water?" Mu Ying whispered.

(End of this chapter)