A group of people were marching in the winter wilderness. The north wind was biting, and the wind picked up the snow on the ground and hit people's faces. Tiny snow particles ruthlessly poured in from the skirts, cuffs, and collars.
Soon the whole body was soaked, which was very uncomfortable.
The cold climate of Little Glacier has been intensifying in recent years.
South of the Great Wall, huge smoke cannons unique to Liaodong were blowing, and the wind blew snow foam on the ground, almost obscuring the view.
"Everyone, grab the belts of those in front. The visibility is too low now and don't fall behind. If you fall behind, you will freeze to death." An Sanxi shouted loudly.
Winters have been really cold these past few years. What he didn't know was that this year Taihu Lake was frozen. The ice was thick enough for carriages to pass, and ice floes appeared on the Yangtze River.
The journey of thirty miles usually takes more than three hours, but now that it is dark, we have only walked more than half of it.
"Captain, you guys are too cold and hungry to walk. Let's find a place to camp." Chu Liang suggested.
An Sanxi thought about it and thought that if there was a snowstorm, it would be better to find a sheltered place to camp. These soldiers were the seeds of the future. If one or two of them froze to death in such a dark day, he would be heartbroken.
Soon they found a village. This village was not big, with only a dozen thatched houses.
An Sanxi stood at the entrance of the village, took a look, and said, "Don't disturb the villagers here. Let's camp in the ruined temple inside the village."
The team members were very obedient and drove directly into this abandoned temple.
In accordance with the requirements of the camp, An Sanxi assigned these student soldiers who had just left the school to clean the ground, plug the holes in the windows and door panels, collect some stones to build a fire pit, set up a horse crane, boil water, and heat the dry food they brought with them.
Dry the soaked inner and outer clothing.
Then he directed everyone to divide sleeping areas and arrange sentries and changing of guard.
I received so many things this time, and it was my first time to come into contact with many of them. It took me a while to figure out how to use them.
Especially the sleeping bag. After I figured out how to use it, I realized that it is so easy to use. It is light and easy to carry. It is simple and convenient to use. It is soft and gentle when you get into it.
Everyone drank boiled water and ate dry food and felt that they were finally alive.
Just now, the snow particles blew into the collar and melted when they hit the skin, making the clothes wet and almost freezing in the howling north wind.
Everyone sat around the fire pit to warm themselves up, sticking bayonets into the sausages and roasting them on the fire. The sausages were sizzling with oil, and the aroma filled the room.
After roasting, slice the sausage and mix it with dry food. It will be very delicious.
Everyone took out two-liang bottles of beef and drank in small sips.
This thing is actually sealed in a cup that they have never seen before. Of course they have never seen spirits packaged in plastic cups. They just feel that this thing is neither gold nor jade, neither soft nor hard. They don’t know what material it is made of.
of.
After a few sips of wine, the blood in my body finally began to flow quickly, and I felt warm all over my body.
"After drinking the wine, throw this cup into the fire and burn it. From now on, remember that when circumstances permit, the outer packaging of the food will be burned." An Sanxi warned.
Although he did not understand this strange rule, he strictly abided by military regulations. He was the commander and wanted to set an example for everyone.
"In this training session, let's talk about what problems need to be improved." An Sanxi asked. He wanted to see the quality of these young officers.
"Let me say a few words," a soldier named Huang Hai raised his hand. Seeing An Sanxi nod, he continued: "I'll just talk about shoes. Marching shoes are the most important. This time we issued two kinds of shoes, suede.
Big leather shoes and rubber shoes.”
An Sanxi nodded.
"Big-toe shoes are warm, but too heavy, making long-distance marches very tiring. Rubber shoes are light, but they freeze your feet in winter. And when it comes to windy and snowy weather like this, snow foam pours into the ankles, and the inside of the shoes becomes wet, and they no longer keep warm.
My feet are numb from the cold, and now I feel very itchy."
An Sanxi was also aware of these problems and asked: "Do you have any good ideas?"
"Can we ask the clothing factory to make shoes suitable for cavalry, such as long leather boots? It would be better if the boot openings can be tightened with laces to prevent snow from filling in, because they will not keep warm if they get wet."
An Sanxi nodded with satisfaction and said: "What you said is very good. The long leather boots were all shipped to the regiment training area because of something going on in the capital. The inventory is gone. I will report back later and replace the boots, trouser legs, collar, etc.
How to prevent snow on your sleeves and face is a big deal. Our training encounter exposed this problem. If it is not solved, in the future I will take you to the Mongolian grasslands, to Liaodong, and even further north, and your number will be severely reduced due to frostbite. I remember this.
Come down and discuss with the quilt factory how to improve the clothes."
Another little soldier raised his hand, and after seeing An Sanxi's signal, he said: "I suggest the people in front of me walking at night to tie the white towels handed out to my arms so that the people behind can see them, so as not to fall behind."
Everyone nodded one after another. Several people almost fell behind today because their vision was not clear in the dark night.
An Sanxi continued to write down in his notebook.
"My master has a saying, three cobblers are as good as Zhuge Liang. Everyone should speak freely and constantly sum up experience and lessons, and our cavalry will become stronger and stronger."
On this windy and snowy night, in the dilapidated mountain temple of this unknown small village, under the watchful eye of the mountain god with peeling paint, the first meeting of the cavalry unit was very successful. From then on, it was established that every march and battle should be carried out
The practice of summarizing meetings.
This newly born force continued to grow through the constant summarization of experiences and lessons, and eventually grew into a more powerful cavalry than the Mongols across the Eurasian continent.
The next day, this small team finally arrived at the Baihusuo livestock farm in Rock Beach.
Accompanied by the farm director, An Sanxi visited the entire farm.
The scale shocked An Sanxi.
More than 300 cows and 30,000 sheep.
In addition to the 400 horses taken away by the regiment training, there are also 3,000 horses here.
Ten thousand pack horses and five thousand cattle.
Most of these livestock were captured in the Battle of Rock Beach, and there are many things that were transmitted during this period. Because of the temporary livestock farm, there is insufficient winter feed reserve, and a large amount of corn is used to feed these livestock. How tight is the food supply now? Look.
An Sanxi was speechless.
Although it is winter when fat is lost, the livestock and war horses here are eating hay and corn with peace of mind in the warm stables with iron honeycomb stoves, and they are all fat and strong.
Only then did An Sanxi understand why. When he mentioned war horses, Yang Fan waved his hand and skipped the question. Because this was not a problem. When he expanded the cavalry, there would be at least tens of thousands of war horses here.
I heard from the horse farm owner Zhang Liang that when spring comes, a large number of Arabian horses and Don horses will arrive, and they will be crossed with native Mongolian horses to give birth to fine horses suitable for the northern climate.
"Captain An, don't worry, you have the master's order. You can choose any of the horses here, and I will give you a hundred. I am very willing to have you cavalry stationed next to me. There were many horse bandits here in the past few years."
, Although a lot of people were wiped out in the Battle of Rock Beach, Zunhua is too rich. These bandits are like cutting leeks, one crop will grow. With cavalry protection, I don’t worry. If you have any difficulties, please tell me