From Shanshan City to the west, there is a series of oases. Continuing to the west, the largest oasis is the ancient city of Gaochang.
In the late Ming Dynasty, it was called Turpan.
Yang Fan's army set off. The First Infantry Division trekked westward along the Silk Road that has been in use for thousands of years. Yang Fan's Chinese Army followed the infantry division under the protection of the Jingding Regiment.
The Heshuote people have received news that Yang Fan is marching from the south. They urgently mobilized troops and horses from the front line of the Altyn Mountains to return reinforcements. But water from afar cannot quench their thirst for nearness, and they will not be able to come for half a month. Xinjiang is the boss. And the terrain is complex.
At present, only Turpan Zaisang'erunqi, who is guarding the ancient city of Gaochang, has figured out a way on his own. He understands that the best way is to block the Ming people on the valley passage on the south road, because he does not have enough troops.
There are only 9,000 soldiers and horses in Gaochang. The main force of the Heshuote people went to the Altai Mountains to confront Ansanxi. Komodo has high terrain. Once they rush down, it will be devastating to the core area of the Heshuote north of the Tianshan Mountains.
blow.
There are many canyons and valley passages on the south road, and Yang Fan is unwilling to take it because it is too easy to block. If Qi Lunqi resists, he may not be able to reach Gaochang in a month. He does not have time to fight with him.
Now, in order to take things by surprise, Yang Fan took the north road instead of the south road.
It is the famous Hami Sea Channel in later generations, an ancient and mysterious place.
There is an ancient and steep route here, with a total length of 456 kilometers, starting from Yumenguan in Gansu, passing through Hami, and finally arriving in Turpan.
As an important part of the ancient Silk Road during the Han Dynasty, it has witnessed the vicissitudes of history. However, due to the difficulty of the road, it was gradually abandoned after the Tang Dynasty.
The infantry division is a mounted infantry, with one person and three horses. One horse rides, one carries supplies, and the other carries weapons, ammunition, etc. They are fighting deep into enemy territory, and they cannot do without enough supplies.
Although the vehicle brigade will transport supplies later, we still need to keep a few bases of ammunition and supplies to last for a month.
Yang Fan's towed RV walked slowly. This was mainly to take care of the speed of the cavalry troops. The cavalry did not march very fast, and generally the speed was the most energy-saving. The horses could keep walking as long as they had endurance.
Walking about fifty kilometers a day is already the most appropriate speed.
Winter is a season of strong winds. The strong wind blows desert sand and rocks, crackling on the car windows.
Fortunately, Yang Fan's RV glass is all bulletproof glass, specially installed by the Ulan-Ude factory. It is also protected by steel mesh on the outside.
Other car windows have steel shutters that can be lowered to block enemy stray bullets. Naturally, they can also block wind and sand.
Otherwise, in climates like Central Asia and Xinjiang, the windshield would have to be replaced three times a day.
"Master, this place looks so desolate. I have never seen such a desolate landscape." The little girl sat on the floor and looked out of the large oval car window.
This ancient road was abandoned in the Tang Dynasty, mainly due to the decrease in precipitation and lack of water after the climate became colder.
After the rivers along the way dried up, it was difficult to find water and it was difficult for the camel team to resupply, so it was abandoned. However, the ancient road is still there, so it is not a big problem for horses and cross-country steam trucks.
Anyway, the car brigade was carrying crawler-type steam bulldozers and road rollers.
Open the road as you go. Three steam bulldozers are pulled in a row, and nine road rollers are divided into three rows.
Along the way, a four-lane simple gravel road is ready.
This kind of simple road is not a big problem if you take a car or something.
The land in Xinjiang is very solid, but it is windy and sandy and lacks water.
Although the ground is dry and smoking, there is still water underground. Otherwise, how could there be water in the karez wells in Turpan and other oases?
Yang Fan's car this time burned fuel oil, and water was added by digging wells along the way. They brought well-drilling equipment and small steam engines mounted on trucks. Because of the steam condensation water equipment, the steam trucks actually did not consume water.
Yang Fan wore sunglasses, looked like MacArthur, and had a corncob pipe in his mouth. He looked out the window through the strong sunlight.
The landscape here is just like Mars. It is really extremely desolate.
In later generations, this is a 4A-level scenic spot and a paradise for off-road enthusiasts.
Yang Fan suddenly had an idea, it would be better to let Ulan-Ude Steam Automobile Group develop a steam off-road vehicle that burns gasoline.
He felt a little itchy looking at this terrain.
Men, drive hard-core off-road vehicles, bravely travel to Alxa, run wildly on the sea road, and travel through countless wind-eroded terrains, devil cities, and soil forests. The roar of the engine, ah, no, it is a steam engine blowing its whistle, blowing out black smoke and
The flames roared past, making people's blood boil just thinking about it.
"It's so boring. It's really boring. After walking for a few days, it's all this monotonous earth-yellow scenery." Lin Yueru covered her mouth with her small hand and yawned.
After watching it for a while, the ladies were tired of it. They were all a little tired of aesthetics.
"There's nothing we can do if we're bored. Who asked us to take this road? It's nine hundred miles, and we've only walked less than half of it." Xiao Niangpi complained.
But she also knew that this was to catch them by surprise. There was no water on this road and it was not suitable for large armies to march. The Heshuote people never expected that Yang Fan would come from here.
He left the three pirate regiments at the back and asked them to pretend to be a large army and go south.
Now the third pirate regiment is blocked by eight thousand cavalry assembled by the Heshuote people. The two sides are confronting each other.
The terrain of the south road was narrow, and the Heshuote people sent troops from Turpan and successfully blocked the pirates. They didn't know how many people were in the valley in front of them, so they thought they were Yang Fan's main force.
They thought it was enough to wait until the army came back for reinforcements, as they were very familiar with this place.
But Yang Fan's main force had already taken the north road, which was like the Sea of Death, without any rivers, lakes, or wells. They took a long detour and took the back road to the ancient city of Gaochang.
At night, they camped in an abandoned military fort from the Tang Dynasty. The remaining walls blocked the howling north wind. The dead poplar trees were cut down by engineers, and piles of bonfires were lit. The interior of the military fort was illuminated red by the fire.
The temperature has also come up.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! One by one, roasted whole lambs were placed on the bonfire, and they were roasting until they were sizzling with oil. A large amount of spice powder and chili powder were sprinkled on them, and a few puffs of high-strength white wine were sprayed on them.
The little fragrance comes up after scratching it.
The officers and soldiers carried naan bread with their bayonets, and the lunch boxes in their hands contained dehydrated vegetable soup. They were sweating while eating. Since they came to the northwest, they had enough beef and mutton, and they were a little tired of eating.
Now I actually prefer pickles and canned fruits in tinplate barrels.
"The water is out, the water is out." cheers came from the distance. The engineers used a steam engine to drive the drilling equipment and successfully drilled the first well.
Mud soup gushes out, reaching a height of more than ten meters. It can be seen that the pressure of the underground aquifer here is very high.
Soon, clean water spurted out. The engineers immediately installed the large faucets that controlled the water supply and began to replenish water for the troops. The cooking soldiers also came to collect water and replenish the storage in preparation for cooking tomorrow.
Yang Fan and his wife sat cross-legged on several large carpets. In the middle of the ground, a pit was dug as a fire pit. A simple pot stove was built with stones on top. The dry poplar wood was burning vigorously, and the hot pot was in a copper basin above.
The soup is bubbling.
The most popular thing here is beef and mutton, and we eat hot pot all the time.
Because the ladies were tired of eating roasted lamb and protested one after another, Yang Fan had no choice but to switch to hot pot.
The vegetables are only dehydrated vegetables. Throw them into the hot pot soup, then take them out with a slotted spoon and eat them. But because the base is good, the taste is also very good.
The beef and mutton in Xinjiang are quite good. Boil it in water, chop it with a big knife, and eat it with chive flower sauce. It is very delicious.
"Master, do you think the Third Pirate Regiment can withstand the enemies of Turpan? The military report that came today said that they have already engaged in battle." Xiao Niangpi asked with some worry.
After Mo Zui left, I don't know if their combat effectiveness has declined.
Using pirates to fight nomadic cavalry is also a strange thing through the ages.
Moreover, the camels were assigned to them before departure and used as transportation along the way. They were not skilled in the use of camel cities and camel cannons.
Now they are luring the enemy on the south road and using the camel city to fight against more than 8,000 Heshuote cavalry. I don't know if they have any chance of winning.
She was very worried that one day news would come that the entire third pirate regiment would be wiped out.
Yang Fan drank a bowl of hot pot soup and said with a smile: "Although the pirate group is from the sea, they are proficient in using firearms. Now on the seas of East Asia, those who do not know how to play with firearms have long been thrown into the sea to feed the fish by their opponents. They are better than Heshuote
People can play with firearms easily, Madam, don’t worry. They have enough ammunition, so there won’t be any big problems.”
"When we suddenly appear under the ancient city of Gaochang and they are forced to retreat, it will be time for them to collapse."