open sea

Chapter 1451 Deer Valley
On the eastern front battlefield of the Ming Empire, on the snowy field in the vast wilderness, a continuous deer team is advancing.

They headed north, looking for signs of winter.

There were not many people in the deer team, but there were three huge herds, thousands of deer with huge horns, walking slowly and firmly along the Ob River all the way north through the swamp.

The deer hunters wore Ming Army cotton armor lined with bearskin. Their boots and armor skirts were so dirty that they couldn't see their original color, and the animal head shoulders at the joints of the shoulders and armbands had also worn off the paint to reveal the original color of steel.

Only the area around the dragon on the chest and back is still red, like fire dancing on a snowy field.

They are Qi Jiguang's Zhengxi Ming Army, belonging to the [-]nd Cavalry Quanyong Squadron of the [-]th Infantry Battalion, the commander is the Ural guerrilla general Wang Minghe, and the leader is Xu Youmian, the commander-in-chief.

Xu Youmian's mission is to follow three migrating herds of deer all the way north from the foot of the Ural Mountains and escort them back to the north.

These deer are the benefactors of the third battalion of Wang Minghe's troops.

In the 11th year of Wanli, Dong Yiyuan's Long Live Army captured the city of Isker, the capital of the Siberian Khanate controlled by Tsarist Russia, and returned it to Kuchu Khan. The military operation was a great success.

However, in the view of Qi Jiguang, who was stationed in the Kazakh Khanate, the road was blocked by heavy snow, and the rear did not know the situation on the front line, so Wang Minghe was sent to escort the supplies to the north with a map of the Kazakh Khanate.

At that time Wang Minghe was not a guerrilla general, he was the captain of the cavalry Quan Yong, and the official worshiped Qingjun Qianhu.

The so-called Quanyong team is the reserve team. It is a wartime establishment. It is called this by an educated commander. The uneducated Marshal Chen usually temporarily assigns a thousand households to be a reserve team during wartime, and there is no Quanyong.

Wang Minghe is an educated officer. He was born in the Beiyang Military Academy. Before joining the army, he had read poetry and books. Highly educated military officers.

As for the thousands of households of the Qing Army, it is also obvious that most of its troops are composed of Mongolian Qingqi, with weak organization, weak morale, and weak combat power.

Such a force was escorted by Wang Minghe, who only had a map of the Kazakh Khanate in the north, and embarked on the road to search for the city of Isker in the face of the wind and snow.

Obviously a disaster.

Because the northern map drawn by the Kazakh Khanate, even if you give the pen to Wei Jinzhong, he will also draw it—find a piece of paper, write Kazakhs on the bottom, draw a small forest in the middle, draw Sancha River on the north side, and draw a point at the mouth of Sancha River , circle the city of Iscal, and it will be done.

There are not even roads.

Wang Minghe didn't know how far it was, so he just kept walking, and it was difficult to meet aborigines on the road, and they were all killed by the Cossacks of Yermak. Even if they were alive, they saw the army marching far away and avoided it.

Sometimes I meet well-meaning people and point them to the city; sometimes I meet good-hearted people who are worried that they are bad guys, and I will point my hand in the direction of Moscow;

The so-called Iscal City has also become a city that does not necessarily exist in Wang Minghe's consciousness.

Because it is sometimes on the left, sometimes on the right, and sometimes in front.

Sometimes there are still three hundred miles to arrive, sometimes there are still one thousand and eight hundred miles to arrive, and sometimes they will grow legs and run four thousand miles away.

As they walked like this, some fell ill and died; some threw down their weapons and fled; some stole their baggage and fled.

The power and brave team of [-] riders finally celebrated the New Year at the foot of the Ural Mountains, with only [-] riders left.

In fact, Wang Minghe already knew that they were going in the wrong direction on the way, but he had no choice but to keep going.

The subordinates couldn't bear a longer march. It was really cold and snowy. They thought that staying in the army and marching forward every day was the only way to survive. Otherwise, if there was a way to survive, the Quanyong team would never have more than [-] people left.

Even if the soldiers killed him and scattered all the supplies, it was very possible.

It's just that they can't help it, so they get together.

If it is said at this time that he will go back thousands of miles, this will be the last order Wang Minghe will give in his life.

After arriving at the Ob River on the east side of the Ural Mountains, Wang Minghe decided not to leave.

It was a dense frozen forest in the nameless valley. The cold made weapons no longer durable, and swords were useless. They used gunpowder to blow up many trees, and burned the branches on the ground for seven days. Dig to lay the foundation of the first house.

Although there was sufficient food, weapons, gunpowder, and medicine, and there was no shortage of water, it took time to build the barracks, and the soldiers fell ill one by one, which made the officers very anxious.

Just when Wang Minghe was desperate, these herds of deer appeared.

The same deer who lost their way on the migration road and were also suffering from hunger and cold to the point of desperation.

They are attracted by the light of the flames in the valley in the snowstorm. Men and beasts have the same needs. In this valley, they share food and huddle around the campfire to keep warm until the snowstorm and winter subside.

Throughout the winter, the Quanyong team was not idle. They built barracks, raised a few bears in captivity, and more importantly, two months of uninterrupted training and survival after the disaster. Although the strength of this army has been reduced, the cohesion and The tacit understanding has improved.

The road Wang Minghe walked was surveyed and drawn by the Quanyong team into a marching map that meets the standards of the Great Ming Beiyang. On the map, this unworthy valley has a beautiful name - Lugu.

Deer Valley without deer.

After the road was cleared, Wang Minghe quickly contacted Dong Yiyuan, and let Qi Jiguang know through Dong Yiyuan that this "disappeared Ming army" was still alive, but suffered some non-combat attrition.

Immediately after the new order came, Qi Jiguang asked him to continue stationing troops, surveying and mapping maps, looking for suitable living areas around, and waiting for the next step of the large army.

The main force of the Ming army is ascertaining the westward environment at the southern foot of the Ural Mountains. At the same time, it is coordinating and relocating the number of Qingjun, family members, and livestock in the rear. After one winter, no one knows how many little Mongolians have grown on the grassland.

Apparently, many deer would have left before the Ming army marched west.

Because deer have to migrate. When the cold winter subsides, these deer from the north will return to their hometown. Some deer are willing to follow them, and more deer still have to set foot on the way home.

In the face of adversity, Wang Minghe ordered Xu Youmian, the chief executive under his command, to lead his troops to survey and map the north and protect the deer herd from wild beasts.

As for himself, he led a small group to the south to meet the vanguard of the Ming army in the southern Ural region, and asked about the situation of the next large-scale westward advance.

At this moment, Dong Yiyuan has passed the confession of the captives in Isker City to the whole army. The most exciting news is that they are only three thousand miles away from Moscow City, and their westward environment will follow them. The farther west you go, the better the environment.

The long wilderness will soon end, and they will return to human society.

　Good morning!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)