When Zhang Xiaosong and his team finished processing, they made a few bitter grasses that looked like they were naturally piled up by the wind.
He took his men and left to meet up with the main force.
The team moved to the southeast, 40 miles away from where he was just now. They set up camp in a straight line from east to west.
There was also grassland here, and the horses grazed on their own land.
The soldiers took out the powder ground from the bags on the backs of the horses and spread it on their palms to feed the horses.
The raw beans at the crucial moment could not be used to feed the horses. The horses ate grass and would easily have diarrhea if they ate raw beans.
The hot air balloon rose and looked into the distance. Next to it, someone began to set up a ten-foot high wooden frame with mortise and tenon structure.
When it was dark, the lookout stood on the frame to watch. The hot air balloon could not be raised. At night, the hot air balloon looked like a big lantern.
Zhang Xiaosong did not set up camp. He directly rested. He did not intend to rely on the camp to defend.
He was a pure cavalry. Cavalry needed a stronghold?
When it was dark, the horses were fed. The hot air balloon came down without torches.
Everyone put down the horses in their military coats and slept against the horses.
The horses could also sleep on their sides. Sometimes they felt very comfortable.
The stars in the sky blinked. The moon … had already set. It was the beginning of the month, the first quarter moon.
It rose early and set early.
Zhang Xiaosong had an extra blanket. He did not use it as a bedding, but rolled it up and used it as a pillow. He called the young generals to squeeze together and sleep.
The furry hats that could be put down were tied on their chins. Their bodies were curled up and they relied on their military coats to keep warm.
They had leather coats inside, all sent from Chang 'an.
Even so, their noses would be frozen red. It was really cold at night.
The soldiers were very content. They did not have military coats and thick hats in the past.
When they marched, they ate whatever was available. Now they even brought canned bamboo food. Compared to before, it was a world of difference.
The sentries who stood on a few lookouts and looked through binoculars chewed pork floss in their mouths.
Pork floss was pork floss. Now the Confucianism had entered the Tang dynasty, but not many people believed it.
Otherwise, Li Yi would have a hard time preparing food. He had to consider other people's beliefs.
Now that no one believed in it, the soldiers ate pork floss. It was quite delicious.
There would be no more letters in the future. Li Yi would absolutely not allow the Islamic religion to enter again.
Time passed, and when it was almost midnight, a lookout was the first to see the troops marching with torches lit at night.
Although he said he saw it, it was more like there were many small dots of light.
If the distance was too far, the enemy scouts would be 20 to 30 li away. Otherwise, how could the team rest 40 li away from that position?
The use of the binoculars came into play at this moment. The messenger slid down the rope from the slightly swaying watchtower.
He found Zhang Xiaosong and said, "Patrol, patrol, they're here. The Arabs are here. There are torches, small dots."
Just as this person finished speaking, another soldier ran over. "Patrol, they're here."
Zhang Xiaosong quivered and sat up. "Pass down the order. Get ready. We are indeed marching at night. If we don't hurry, the horses won't have anything to eat."
Zhang Xiaosong took out his water bag and poured some water to wash his face to wake himself up. As for whether his cold face would dry out at night, that was not within the scope of consideration.
The others were woken up one by one. They also washed their faces and prepared for battle.
The horses were also not to shout. Some of the horses had already been standing, and many of them were huddled together for warmth.
There was no need for Zhang Xiaosong to give any further orders. The soldiers knew what to do.
There was a large patch of grass there. When the Arabs arrived, the horses would not be able to bear it and would eat there.
The Arabs would also rest there, cook some food, and wait for dawn to arrive.
If the Arabs were to set up camp somewhere else tonight, then … that would be impossible. There would be no water.
Unless the distance was very far, but if they could not arrive together in a coordinated battle, their allies would be finished.
The troops set out. They did not bother with the watchtower and rode their horses slowly. It was still a journey of 40 li.
They did not light torches. The horses were very careful when they landed, afraid that they would step into a pit.
On the other side, although there were twenty thousand of them, there were only sixteen thousand white-clothed Arabs. They were indeed resting.
Zhang Xiaosong was all too familiar with the habits of the enemies in the Western Regions. The Arabs had many more horses than men, and they used them to carry weapons and supplies.
While the horses were eating grass, the men were eating meat jerky, beef jerky, and mutton jerky. They were fetching water from the stream.
They were very tired from the journey, so the scouts were sent out so that they could eat in peace.
Zhang Xiaosong's troops were gradually recovering, and they were no longer so tired. A cold wind would wake them up.
The horses were the same. After some exercise, they would gradually adjust.
An hour later, when they were about to encounter the enemy scouts twenty li away, Zhang Xiaosong ordered, "Scouts, advance! Shoot and kill the enemy scouts."
In truth, the generals had seen through their binoculars that the Arab scouts were being illuminated by torches. Through the binoculars, the torches were far too obvious.
The scouts dismounted from their horses and quickly ran forward with crossbows in their hands.
Fifteen minutes after they had left, Zhang Xiaosong ordered again, "Increase the speed. Keep up. Prepare for battle. Fire arrows."
The soldiers changed their arrows. The arrowheads were wrapped in incendiary items and fired from the crossbows. In a little while, they would light the arrows with lighters and fire.
The arrows were mainly used to light up the fuse on the other side. There was no rush for a large-scale battle.
The scouts with crossbows gradually approached the enemy scouts. The Arab scouts were more relaxed. They did not think that they would encounter the Military forces of the Tang Dynasty here.
In their minds, the Military forces of the Tang Dynasty should have just reacted.
However, they did not know that the Tang Dynasty had already said that Su Lu was getting stronger and should be attacked.
None of the generals guarding the borders of the Tang Dynasty were free, including Wang Zhongsi in history.
He said that An Lushan was going to rebel, but Li Longji did not think that was possible. In the end …
The generals from the Kaiyuan to Heavenly Treasure Era were all more sensitive and had a better grasp of the situation.
A good hand had been ruined by Li Longji.
The current generals of the Tang Dynasty …
Just like when Li Yi had just destroyed the Japanese Empire, each of them could oversee a region.
Even after defeating the national army and establishing a country, they were still so strong.
However, they were directly dealt with by that person instead of drinking a cup of wine.
When the Tang Dynasty scouts approached, the horses were the first to react. Unfortunately, the people on the horses did not feel the danger and continued to stroll slowly.
Weng ~ Weng ~ Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh! A volley of crossbow bolts flew over, hitting both the men and the horses.
The cries of the ten-some white-clothed Arab scouts gradually died down. Not a single one of them had escaped.
Zhang Xiaosong and his men saw the situation and urged their horses on. The sound of hooves became louder.
When they reached the place, the scouts mounted their horses and moved with them.
The Arab scouts further away did not care. They did not have time to react.
At twenty li, the horses sped up. At ten li, they changed horses and sped up again.
At five li, the sound of hooves could be heard. It was obvious that ten thousand horses were galloping.
"Get ready. The enemy is here. The cavalry of the Tang Dynasty is here. Get on your horses." The Arabs understood that such a loud sound must be the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty.
In their panic, they got up and went to find their horses. The horses were still eating grass. Horses were not humans. A bowl of noodles could be sucked in easily.
If they were eating cold noodles, a bowl of cold noodles could be swallowed in ten seconds. They did not even need to chew.
Horses could not. They were eating grass. Just as they were eating comfortably, a battle was about to break out.
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