A group of black cavalry galloped crazily on the ground, with iron hooves stepping on them, and the yellow sand in the sky rose with it!
Only when he actually set foot on this road did Xue Rengui truly discover the difficulty of this road.
At the beginning, in order to seek stability, Sun Chengen only kept Xue Rengui from a distance and did not easily launch a general offensive.
But as the Dongyi armies arrived one after another, Sun Chengen began to really let go of his hands and started to work hard. The infantry surrounded Xue Rengui in the front, blocking every possible way for Xue Rengui to break out.
The cavalry is responsible for chasing, constantly consuming Xue Rengui's vitality.
The biggest threat to Xue Rengui is still the issue of food and grass. It is naturally impossible for them to obtain food and grass supplies in Dongyi. Moreover, since they have already deviated from the planned route, supply points have been secretly set up before.
, Xue Rengui will definitely not be able to enjoy it.
At the beginning, Xue Rengui could still obtain supplies by plundering Dongyi villages and towns. However, as Dongyi soldiers and horses gradually arrived, Sun Chengen was unlikely to give Xue Rengui such an opportunity again.
Although there are still a lot of soybeans and black beans in the army, they are not prepared for people, but for war horses.
This of course does not mean that people cannot use those soybeans and black beans. In fact, once the ancient army was deprived of food, it was often the case that soldiers would snatch the soybeans or black beans that were fed to the horses.
However, on this kind of escape, feeding the horses is even more important than feeding the soldiers.
With the arrival of spring, the grass on the ground has begun to sprout, which can meet some of the needs of the war horses. Moreover, the seedlings in Dongyi's farmland have also begun to sprout. After all, they are not from his own family. Xue Rengui has no idea about this.
psychological burden.
However, just feeding horses with grass cannot satisfy their basic nutritional structure. It is difficult for such horses to have the strength to engage in heavy physical labor.
In order for horses to have strength and endurance, they must be fed fodder, concentrate feed, and even salt regularly.
This method of enhancing nutrition for horses and improving their overall combat effectiveness is actually the same whether they are raised on grasslands or in plain farming areas in the interior. It is all grass and concentrated feed, and salt is fed together so that war horses can gain weight and adapt to the fierce competition.
War. However, the concentrated feed is mainly wheat bran and beans.
Before starting a war, many nomadic peoples only fed their war horses concentrated feed for several months without letting them eat grass. They only allowed the horses to eat a small amount of grass until a few days before the war started because they were worried that the horses would grow long after eating concentrated feed for a long time.
They cannot run if they are too fat. Therefore, the idea that grassland horses only need to be free-range to graze and then gathered together to fight is unrealistic.
It is precisely because of this that Xue Rengui's hands are not without food, but the food is prepared for war horses, not for people.
In desperation, Xue Rengui could only choose to kill horses for food. One horse can feed 50 people for a day, and the black cavalry only has one person and three riders. Coupled with the attrition caused by constant fighting, it can barely sustain it.
.
Moreover, killing horses for food can also relieve the food pressure on war horses, which can be regarded as killing multiple birds with one stone.
However, it is a pity that the black cavalry war horses are the most elite war horses selected in the army. The strongest war horses and the most elite armors are distributed to the most elite troops, and this is how the final black cavalry is formed. But
Nowadays, these war horses are really wasted.
However, at this critical moment of life and death, it is not the time to care so much! If the war horses are gone, they can still raise them again, or even rob them again, but if the lives of these soldiers are gone, then they are really gone.
!
"Quick! Rest the entire army!" Xue Rengui ordered loudly.
Although Xue Rengui had issued an order for the entire army to rest, no one dismounted their horses. They just silently took out the horse meat that had been prepared long ago from their backpacks. In the continuous pursuit, they were unable to eat, let alone food.
Now, many times, even sleeping is done on horseback.
Xue Rengui and Hu Luguang looked back silently, clenching their fists unwillingly, not even feeling their nails piercing their palms. Their eyes were full of anger and sadness. At the same time, there was a hint of hope deep in their eyes.
A look of hope, looking forward to those figures appearing again.
"If you can come back, General Guan and the others can definitely come back!" Xue Rengui murmured softly.
"Yes! If you can come back, they can definitely come back!" Hu Luguang didn't know whether he was talking to Xue Rengui or to himself.
Sun Chengen continuously sent out large groups of cavalry to pursue him, while Xue Rengui hid whenever he could. If he really couldn't, he would fight and retreat with the opponent.
However, it didn't take long for Xue Rengui to realize that he could not continue like this. Although he did this to avoid fighting with the opponent and avoid casualties as much as possible.
However, Xue Rengui also found that he seemed to have fallen into Sun Chengen's plan and was forced to escape along the route Sun Chengen had set for them.
Escape following the route set by the enemy may seem harmless in a short period of time, and may even reduce casualties. However, if this continues, the end result will definitely be death without a burial place.
If Xue Rengui continues to escape along this route, what he will face in front will definitely be the Dongyi infantry troops that have been blocked there for a long time. By then, they will probably rush into the pocket formation that the enemy has designed for them.
middle.
At that time, Dongyi will launch a general attack with an absolute advantage in strength. The final fate of these thousands of troops will definitely be death, and there will be no luck.
After realizing the last problem, Xue Rengui was already faced with a difficult choice. If he continued to move forward, he would fall into the enemy's pocket.
But if they change direction, they may have to take a lot of unnecessary steps if they want to reach Yunhai Port. They will have to travel at least seven days longer.
In this life-or-death escape journey, if you walk an extra day, or even an extra hour, you don't know how many variables it will cause and how many difficulties you will encounter, let alone a seven-day journey. It's too much.
During this seven-day journey, their future was also uncertain.
Moreover, if they change direction at this time, in addition to having to go through so many unnecessary journeys, it is also inevitable to have a head-on fight with the Dongyi cavalry who have been chasing them. If they want to change direction, first
The only obstacle was the Dongyi cavalry chasing them.
It's just that it's impossible not to change the direction. If you don't change the direction, there will only be a dead end.