The so-called southern Xinjiang is a place surrounded by the Tianshan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains. To the west is the Pamir Plateau, and to the east are the Altyn Mountains and the Qilian Mountains.

This place surrounded by mountains is very vast, as big as four or five Liaodong. In that hellish place, in addition to barren mountains, it is desert.

The places that are said to be grasslands look more like oases in the desert on the map.

Since ancient times, the Silk Road would rather go around in a long circle from the north than pass through the Taklimakan Desert in southern Xinjiang.

This is a land forgotten by God, and only the Uighurs who were driven out by the Mongols live here in hardship.

Zu Dashou didn't understand that in such a place where no ghost wanted to go, Li Xiao and Mao had to spend all their efforts to wipe out the poor Wei Uer people.

I am in northern Xinjiang, Geng Zhongming and Kong Youde are in Qinghai. There is Gesar, a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, on the plateau!

The main person doing the work was Zu Dashou’s farmer!

This was a meager operation that could not make a fortune. The Uer people did not have many cattle and sheep, and some of them had even abandoned their nomadic traditions and turned to farming.

Due to the arid climate, the land here is cultivated. In other words, you can plant a gourd and reap two!

However, no one dared to pervert Li Xiao's order. Especially such a serious one, he called these border officials to the capital to see what Yang Sichang's baby looked like.

How cruel!

A generation of feudal official was humiliated on stage like a dog. One side of his hair was shaved into a bald spot, while the other side was still left on. He said it was called a yin-yang head!

Li Xiao is telling everyone that even if you are a feudal official, as long as Marshal Li is unhappy, you will instantly become a clown on the high platform and be humiliated.

Regarding Li Xiao's plan, Zu Dashou had to be very energetic.

Although he is one of the commanders of the four main divisions, Kezu Dashou's fourth division is the weakest. Although the light firepower is great, the heavy firepower is very lacking.

But on the grassland, it seems that there is no need for heavy firepower. Who can carry a cannon when traveling thousands of miles!

Sitting on the airship, Zu Dashou looked at the Ili River Valley below.

His headquarters is in Hami, which is too far away from the Ili Valley. The airship needs to be refueled in Dihua before it can fly to the Ili Valley.

There are really too few people, with more than 40,000 people and more than 50,000 farmers. It is almost impossible to control such a large area.

Fortunately, many places were not suitable for human habitation, so Zu Dashou was able to concentrate his troops a little.

There is nothing we can do about it. People in the Central Plains do not like the Western Regions and are not willing to come to the Western Regions. The land in the mainland is not tight enough, and a large number of laborers have entered the factories.

Regarding the Western Regions, Li Xiao is really full of ambition but not strong enough. Now, almost half of the Ming people in the Western Regions are soldiers, and the rest are almost all family members of soldiers.

"Commander, there seems to be a storm ahead. Let's land at a nearby settlement!" the pilot pointed at a yellow wall on the edge of the sky and said in horror.

This is the famous sandstorm. The sandstorms in the Western Regions are far more terrifying than those in Hebei. The sand rolled up by the strong wind is like an earthy yellow wall, truly connected to the blue sky and falling to the underworld.

Sandstorms are the most terrifying enemy of airships, and as long as they encounter them in the sky, they will be catastrophic.

"There is a settlement ahead!" The staff officer pointed at the map and quickly found a settlement.

"If the speed is faster, we should be able to land before the sandstorm comes." The flight staff pointed at the map and made a simple calculation.

"Okay! Land at the settlement." There was nothing Zu Dashou could do if he encountered a sandstorm.

Sandstorm will not give him more face just because he is a teacher.

The huge airship turned around and flew towards the settlement at full speed. The khaki sand wall behind him was getting closer and closer, and Zu Dashou's heart couldn't help but feel in his throat.

The airship can land at any time, but the huge airbag and the pod attached below will be blown away by the strong wind. It is very dangerous for people to be directly exposed to sandstorms. If nothing else, the sand and dust alone can make people seriously ill.

of lung disease.

In the Western Region where there is a lack of medical treatment and medicine, the mortality rate from this disease is quite high.

Only by flying to the settlement and landing inside the settlement and running into a house with tight doors and windows can one escape the disaster.

Just when Zu Dashou was worried, the airship finally landed in the settlement.

This is a large settlement with more than 300 people. When he saw the airship approaching, the battalion commander jumped out like an arrow had been shot in his butt. Those who can take the airship these days are all big shots.

"Commander!" Seeing Zu Dashou coming off the airship, the battalion commander quickly stood at attention and saluted.

"You are...!" This guy had his face wrapped in a towel, and Zu Dashou couldn't recognize him for a moment.

"Zhao Baoshun, Commander of the Third Battalion of the Second Regiment of the Third Reclamation Division." The battalion commander quickly pulled off the towel and let Zu Dashou see his face.

"Oh!" Zu Dashou was a little confused. His other identity was the commander of the reclamation division. In theory, these reclamation divisions were all his subordinates.

"Sir, the sandstorm is coming soon. Let's go inside to talk!" Zhao Baoshun saw the wind getting stronger and faster and hurriedly asked Zu Dashou to come inside.

The flight technicians on the airship here had already rushed down and opened the exhaust valve of the airship airbag to the maximum. The huge airbag is a huge windward side. Under this level of strong wind, no matter how many ropes are nailed to the ground, it will be useless.

The only thing you can do is to discharge the air inside the airbag and minimize the windward area of ​​the airbag.

Watching the sky getting darker and darker, Zu Dashou followed Shan Ruliu into the house.

"Sir, please drink some water. Don't worry. The glass windows here are all three-layered. And when a sandstorm comes, a sandproof board made of wood will be erected outside.

Although there will still be a small amount of dust entering the house, it is no longer very powerful." The battalion commander called on the orderlies to pour water for the bosses, while standing next to Zu Dashou himself to explain.

As he was talking, there was a constant "clicking" sound on the roof. Soon, a long wooden board was pushed down from the roof at an angle and inserted into the pit on the ground.

The livestock sheds were also covered with wooden boards, but there was just a layer of canvas lined behind the wooden boards.

Obviously, these soldiers of the Reclamation Division have extensive experience in dealing with sandstorms. No wonder the mainlanders are reluctant to come to the Western Regions. Life here is still too difficult compared to the mainland.

When the camels whined and fell to their knees, covering their heads under the thick camel hair, Zu Dashou knew that a sandstorm was coming.

A black earth wall pushed across the horizon, and the sandstorm intensified into a black storm at some point.

The wind force of the black storm is huge, but houses made of bricks and stones can completely prevent it. The scary thing is the dense sand and dust, and the visibility is extremely low in such weather conditions.

The destructive power of a mudslide is greater than that of a flood. Similarly, a black storm carrying sand and dust is a hundred times more violent than a wind of the same size. It only slows down slightly when entering an oasis from a distant desert.

, as time went by, it still covered the settlements tightly with various strange roars.

"Let the people outside come in quickly. We don't care about the airship at this time." Through the glass, Zu Dashou discovered that the technician on the airship was still trying to empty the huge air bag.

But how can an air bag that is ten meters high be emptied in a short time?

If these technicians don't come in, they will be blown away by the sandstorm and the airship.

"Commander, the airbag can't be saved. They want to save the pod!"

Sure enough, the last few steel cables were blown up by grenades. The huge air bag suddenly flew into the sky, only flying thirty to fifty meters high before being swallowed up by the black storm.

It was completely dark, and the oil lamp on the table looked like a firefly.

The technicians rushed into the house with a gust of wind, and the double door immediately closed tightly.

Zu Dashou heard all kinds of weird roars, and at one moment he even heard the whine of a camel.

"Sir, please drink water." Zhao Baoshun didn't want to let go of such an opportunity to curry favor with his leader because he was afraid that dust would fall into the teacup and he put a lid on it.

"Yeah!" Zu Dashou knew that there was no chance of tea here, and a glass of water was already a good treat.

"How often do sandstorms blow?"

"It's common in spring and autumn, and there are fewer blows in this season." Zhao Baoshun said, but in his heart, he was grateful that this sandstorm gave him the opportunity to get close to the nobles.

"Damn it!" Zu Dashou never expected that he would encounter such an unfortunate thing.

The airship was destroyed and another airship needed to be transferred from Hami. Even if we arrived at the fastest possible time, it would still take two days. Besides, God knows if there will be another accident.

Sandstorms come and go quickly.

Zu Dashou asked Zhao Baoshun about the settlement in a nonchalant manner. In just over an hour, the sandstorm slowly stopped.

It's just that the sky is full of sand, which can't fall for a while. By the time the sand has almost fallen, it's almost dusk.

Zu Dashou walked out of the house and saw a messy settlement.

The livestock shed that I saw had been demolished, leaving only a few lonely camels lying on the ground. The horses were not seen, so it would be very difficult to find them.

Zu Dashou was a cavalryman, and he liked horses the most. Especially the tall horses from the Western Regions, which were far better than the war horses from Liaodong and Mongolia. Seeing that the horses were gone, his expression was a little sad.

"Every time after a sandstorm, it looks like this. Camels are heavier and are not afraid of these things. Horses are not good. They can't hold their breath. Even if they survive, they won't be able to do heavy work in the future.

So, the horses have been led into the cellar, look!" As if seeing Zu Dashou's displeasure, Zhao Baoshun pointed to the cellar not far away.

Several grooms were opening the cellar, lifting the thick blankets, and pulling out the horses one by one. Although the cellar can prevent wind and sand, the ventilation underneath is not very good after all. If it is kept for too long, the horses will be suffocated.

Death would be bad.

"Well! You are still a smart person." Seeing that the war horse was fine, Zu Dashou felt better.

"There is nothing we can do about this. Although our settlers can't harvest much food from the land, the settlements rely on food supplies from the hinterland and grazing cattle and sheep.

It can't work without horses!" Zhao Baoshun followed Zu Dashou and watched another group of people opening the cellar and letting out the cattle and sheep inside.

"Yeah! That's right. It's hard for you, the Han family, to graze in the soil and have to graze here."

"It's not difficult! It's not difficult! I lived in Lankao since I was a child, and I didn't even have to wear shoes. That year, there was a flood in the Yellow River, and my mother took me to flee to Shandong.

Later, the commander showed mercy and allowed us to go and settle in Liaodong. When we arrived in Liaodong, the officials distributed rice, grain, oil and noodles. On the day we arrived in Liaodong, it was the first time in my life that I had enough to eat.

From that time on, I knew that the lives of my family were saved by the Marshal. When I grow up, I will join the Liao Army and fight for the Marshal.

After longing and waiting, I finally joined the army at the age of eighteen. Later, I was promoted to platoon leader and company commander. In the army, I also learned to write.

Later, the commander-in-chief said that a reclamation division was to be established in the Western Regions. So I signed up, thinking that no matter how bad I was, it would still be better than my hometown in Henan. Unexpectedly, I was promoted to a higher level and became a battalion commander. I had many subordinates.
To be continued...