Putting down the binoculars, the two of them looked at each other, each feeling a little stunned and surprised.
"Old Ren," Lei Er opened his eyes in disbelief: "Am I right? That's Gu Datou opposite?"
Ren Ning remained silent and looked at the figure opposite carefully again before nodding firmly.
"It's indeed the big one," Ren Ning smiled: "The one next to him is Lu Youtian. The others are also brothers from the Eighth Battalion."
He had written family letters for these people before, so he knew a lot of them.
Especially Lu Youtian. If he hadn't contributed the first crystal, Ren Ning would never have gotten the telescope.
"Good guy." Lei Er recognized him now and couldn't help laughing.
"Why are they here?"
Ren Ning shook his head, "Not very clear."
Although the Starfall Legion's intelligence network is extensive, it is not detailed enough to track down where soldiers like Gu Datou and Lu Youtian have gone.
At the same time, it is not necessary.
At this moment, Gu Datou and Lu Youtian on the opposite side also recognized Ren Ning and Lei Er.
After the surprise, the remaining 170 cavalrymen of the 8th Cavalry Battalion excitedly rode over.
Wangchuan is like a dead horse.
The two sides were a little far apart, and it took them a long time to get together.
Ha ha!
More than a hundred people jumped off their horses in unison and patted each other's shoulders excitedly.
"Datou, Arita, brothers from the Eighth Battalion, long time no see!"
"Long time no see! Come, come, let's eat broad beans together. I brought them here all the way from Hanoi County."
"Old Ren, oh no, General. And Lei Er, it turns out it's really you. Just now, Datou almost wondered if the clairvoyance in his hand was broken."
"What general?" Ren Ning waved his hands in a haha, "They are all brothers who have died, and they are not in the fortress. Just call me Lao Ren as before."
"kind."
…
After a while of pleasantries, both parties remounted their horses and marched in formation towards the temporary residence of the Eighth Cavalry Battalion.
Ren Ning looked back thoughtfully.
If any soldiers are left behind, carefully eliminate their tracks.
"General Huo sent you in, right?" Lei Er looked around, "Where are the other brothers from the Eighth Battalion?"
Gu Datou laughed loudly: "They are all here."
Ren Ning and the two were stunned.
Two years ago, the Starfall Legion transferred its defenses and left the fortress. At that time, the Eighth Cavalry Battalion had a full strength of 1,000 people.
They knew that the pressure and casualties on the fortress were great these days, but they never expected that it would be so brutal.
Lu Youtian next to him smiled: "Our Eighth Battalion is pretty good. The Seventh and Ninth Battalions next to us have all been killed. But we killed more than one or two thousand people from Xiliang."
"Brothers have made enough money."
…
Walking forward while talking.
The group of people walked in a hurry until the sun set in the west, then stopped at a small mountain nest.
Police posts and defenses were set up around the den, and there were bushes and even a small water source inside.
Ren Ning turned around and nodded with satisfaction: "It's really nice here."
The Desert of No Return is thousands of miles away from the Yunchui Empire.
Almost all news about it comes from caravans on the east and west lines.
According to legend, the Desert of No Return is extremely desolate and barren of grass, like a purgatory on earth.
It is said that once you step into the Desert of No Return, no one can come out.
"Exactly." Gu Datou scorned, "It's all nonsense from those caravan bastards."
Ren Ning nodded.
The two of them commented repeatedly: "Those rumors about caravans are really unreliable."
Our ancestors were right, reading thousands of books is worse than traveling thousands of miles. If you want to know the real situation, you still have to go and see for yourself.
If they hadn't come here in person this time, I really don't know that there would be such a place with mountains and water to stay near the Desert of No Return.
It can be said that it is much better than previously imagined.
No wonder Tiele brought his people to settle here.
Gu Datou and Lu Youtian looked at each other.
In more than two hours after returning, they also learned why Ren Ning and Lei Er appeared here.
They laughed and said: "Old Ren, this place is nothing. The water source is so small that it can only be enough for more than a hundred of us to drink. We don't even dare to take more baths."
They pointed to the north.
"Although it is called the Desert of No Return, there are actually many oases in it. There are wild animals and lakes in the oases, and the lakes are quite large. It can be said that the environment is much better than here."
It's just that they insist on harassing or robbing the grain and grass sent from Xiliang to the east, so they stay here.
In other words, a large number of Xiliang people were driven here.
"Really?" Lei Er's eyes widened curiously.
Ren Ning remained silent.
Having seen deserts in my previous life, I was not surprised at all.
He asked carefully about the famous oases nearby and took out a map to mark those locations one by one.
After a long while, he asked: "So you don't know where the Kailun tribe has settled, right?"
Gu Datou scratched his shiny forehead.
He was a little embarrassed, "I'm really unclear about this."
Lu Youtian explained: "We robbed the Xiliang people's rations several times, and then we were chased and kept hiding in Tibet. We just arrived here not long ago."
The grassland is vast, and the few men and horses that Tiele brought out were not much bigger than the sand, so it was really not that easy to encounter them.
Ren Ning nodded thoughtfully.
No wonder the soldiers behind them kept clearing their traces on the way here.
"Gotta be careful tonight."
"What?" Lei Er and others were startled, subconsciously stood up and looked around.
It's just that they are in the bushes at the bottom of the small den and can't see outside.
Ren Ning stood up and walked to a higher point: "We always thought that there were no Xiliang people around here except Tiele, so we fired cloud-piercing arrows into the sky unscrupulously."
Since Gu Datou and the others can see it, then the aboriginal people here and even the Xiliang people who are searching for the Eighth Battalion can see it and even touch it.
A few people understand.
"Afraid of hair." Gu Datou has always been full of confidence in Ren Ning, "If we touch one, we will kill one. If we touch a group, we will kill a group."
Lei Er, who had read more books than him, said with a smile: "This means that the soldiers will come to block it, and the water will come and the soil will flood it."
When we reached the high point, we used three telescopes to look around.
But at this time, night fell, and the sky and earth were dark all around.
Except for Ren Ning who has a golden finger, everyone else can only watch lonely.
Gu Datou muttered: "What time is it now? Why is it so dark at night?"
"July 24th." Ren Ning would record the local customs and describe the topography along the way from time to time for emergency needs.
So remember the day.
"As long as it's not July 14th." Someone whispered.
Everyone laughed.
Ren Ning suddenly raised his hand and pointed: "On the hill about five miles to the north, there are more than fifty people peering in our direction."
The faces of the people behind him became serious and they all looked to the north.
They don't need to worry about this manpower. The only thing they worry about is whether there are any obstacles further away.
Huh.
Ren Ning looked strange, "Their mounts are not horses, but..."