The distance from Qiwu Mountain to the Lu River Valley in Yinzhou was a bit far, about one or two hundred li. In order to avoid being discovered by the horse bandits, the army deliberately took a detour. As a result, the journey was even longer, with a total distance of two hundred li.
According to the speed of the Tang dynasty's army, it was easy to travel a distance of one hundred li in one day and one night. As a result, the distance of two hundred li could be covered in two days. Since the horse bandits carried a lot of supplies, it would take at least three or four days to reach the Lu River Valley. Therefore, the Tang dynasty's army had enough time to prepare. As long as they were well prepared, it would be easier to wipe out the horse bandits and wipe them out in one fell swoop.
Ang Lee's goal was to achieve the effect of wiping out the horse bandits with the least loss. It would be best if none of the soldiers were sacrificed. As long as they were well prepared, this goal could be achieved. As long as they were willing to work hard, there was nothing that couldn't be achieved.
The speed of the army's march at night was naturally limited. If the marching speed was too fast, it would easily cause casualties. However, during the day, the marching speed could be increased appropriately.
Although the soldiers and horses were tired after a tiring night, they could only rest when eating. The rest of the time had to be spent on marching because the time during the day was very precious. They had to march as much as possible and strive to reach the Lu River Valley as soon as possible. This way, they would have more time to prepare and achieve Ang Lee's goal of zero casualties.
After the army worked hard for a night, they worked hard for another day. At night, they could set up camp and rest. After resting, the next morning, they would start the arduous march again and reach the Lu River Valley in one fell swoop to complete the marching task.
After a night of rapid marching, the soldiers were all very tired. Many of them were yawning. At this time, it was time for breakfast. The soldiers had a moment of rest, and the horses could also take this opportunity to eat horse grass to replenish their strength.
In order to save time, the meals of the soldiers were relatively simple. They were just using ordinary ingredients. Every soldier took out the dry mantou that they had prepared beforehand, as well as specially prepared salted vegetables and dried meat. In addition, the soldiers in charge of logistics hurriedly boiled some hot water and sent it to every soldier so that the soldiers could have a warm drink.
Of course, Ang Lee's food was not so coarse. These were all the treatment of ordinary soldiers. As a high-ranking official of the imperial court, Ang Lee would not be treated the same as ordinary soldiers wherever he went. He had a special kitchen.
The soldier in charge of cooking quickly brought Li An a few side dishes. They were all freshly made delicacies. There were spicy beef, poached eggs, frozen beef slices, egg soup, and freshly heated meat buns. There were more than a dozen of them.
Of course, Li An couldn't finish all the delicacies by himself. But with Lao Guo here, there wouldn't be much left if they shared the delicacies.
"Old Guo! Don't eat dry steamed buns, let's have a good meal! "
Seeing Old Guo take out the dry steamed buns, Ang Lee said to him.
What was wrong with this guy? He could have a special kitchen, but he chose to share weal and woe with ordinary soldiers. He ate whatever the soldiers ate, without any consideration for his health. Anyway, Ang Lee did not like the way of sharing weal and woe with the soldiers. Because his body was his, he should not treat himself unfairly. If a general fell ill, it would be a great loss to the whole army. Especially for an old man like Old Guo, he should pay more attention to his health, and should not be mentioned in the same breath with these strong young men.
"Haha! Assistant Minister Li, no matter what kind of environment you are in, you will never treat yourself unfairly! No matter how hard the environment is, you should eat and drink well! "
Lao Guo said as he took a seat.
"Your body is your own, how can you treat yourself unfairly? Why eat cold steamed buns when you can eat good food? Isn't that asking for trouble? "
Ang Lee said.
Old Guo said with a smile, "Assistant Minister Li is right. But it's not a big deal to share weal and woe with the soldiers once in a while. This rapid march is very hard, and all the soldiers are exhausted, so they should bring as little supplies as possible. If they bring more food to take care of me, it will increase their burden. Even when I was in the camp, I ate better food than ordinary soldiers! It's not a big deal to suffer a little hardship once in a while. "
Obviously, Old Guo thought this operation was too important. At such a critical moment, he wanted to share weal and woe with the ordinary soldiers, so as to motivate them to try their best to complete the task. Even the generals were eating steamed buns, what else could the ordinary soldiers do?
"Old Guo! You're not young anymore. You're an old man. Don't try your best like the young ones! If you really hurt your body, it will be a great loss! "
Ang Lee tried to persuade him.
"Don't worry, don't worry. My body is still strong. It's not a big deal to eat a cold steamed bun once in a while. But since Assistant Minister Li is so kind to invite me, I won't stand on ceremony. I've already eaten half of the steamed bun, so I have to continue eating. Let me try these side dishes, haha! "
Old Guo was very optimistic, and didn't think hardship was a torture at all.
Because they were in a hurry, breakfast couldn't be too long, but at the same time, it couldn't be too short, because if possible, they would skip lunch. The army would keep marching forward, and they couldn't have a good meal until they camped in the evening.
At the time of departure, in order to avoid being discovered by the horse thieves, the troops set off in groups. However, after leaving Qiwu Mountain, there was no need for so many troops to hide. Slowly, they gathered together. During breakfast, the ten troops gradually gathered together. This way, they would have more momentum when they moved.
After eating and drinking to their heart's content, the army of more than a thousand people set out again, heading straight for the Lushui River Valley in Yinzhou Province at the fastest speed. In order to prevent the army from leaving any traces, dozens of soldiers stayed behind to clean up. They erased all the traces of the army's movements and stops, so that the Horse Gang wouldn't easily discover them.
Dozens of miles away, the mounted gangsters were also having breakfast. After they finished their breakfast, they were about to set off. They had eaten and drunk too much yesterday, so early in the morning, many of the mounted gangsters seemed to be a little weak. However, they would be fine after a little adaptation.
The breakfast was sumptuous, and it was the most sumptuous meal they had along the way. After this meal, they wouldn't have such a sumptuous dinner anymore. The conditions on the road were tough, so they had to save as much as possible. According to the plan, they would arrive at the Fox Tuo Mountain on the east of the river in half a month at the earliest, and a month at the latest.
"Brother Ma, why do I feel half of my head aching?"
Fatty said uncomfortably as he ate his porridge.
Foal said, "Fatty, you drank several jars of wine last night. I told you not to drink so much, but you didn't listen. Now you know it's a headache! Who's to blame? You asked for it. "
Fatty said regretfully, "If I had known it would be so uncomfortable, I wouldn't have drunk so much yesterday. Ouch, it's so uncomfortable! How am I going to walk later? "
A headache meant that he hadn't sobered up. But this wasn't difficult for Foal. Foal was very skilled in how to cure drunkenness. He knew many secret recipes to cure drunkenness, and he had secretly prepared some last night to take care of his brother.
"Fatty, don't be afraid. I'm here. I knew you would be drunk when I saw you drinking so much last night. So, I've already prepared some hangover soup for you. Look at what this is. "
Foal said.
"Special hangover soup. Brother Ma, you're really good. You even thought of this in advance. Brother, thank you. I must drink more."
Fatty said gratefully, and gulped down the hangover soup. The feeling of drunkenness was very uncomfortable, and his entire head hurt. After drinking the hangover soup, one would feel much better. There were many types of hangover soups, and no one knew how many there were. In short, there were too many soups that could be used to cure drunkenness.
"Much better, I feel much better. Great, this is really great!"
Fatty said in a very comfortable manner.
There were too many drunken bandits last night, but Foal naturally wouldn't prepare hangover soup for them. He spent every day with Fatty and the rest, and it was inevitable that he would develop feelings for them. As for the other bandits, he didn't have any feelings for them, so he naturally didn't care if they were comfortable or not.
Every drunken bandit felt an unbearable headache, and they felt weak all over. Regarding this situation, the bandit leader was helpless. However, their journey couldn't be delayed, and they had to set off as soon as possible.
"Brother, I'll make a move first."
Skinny Monkey-Like and his 100 brothers were already ready to set off after breakfast. Because they didn't need to carry a lot of worldly possessions, their journey was a little easier. However, the road they were going to take was more dangerous than the road the Horse Gang Leader was going to take. Therefore, it wasn't an easy journey.
"Brother Shou Hou, be careful! Don't forget to set up camp early, and send some brothers to meet us. "
The bandit leader said.
"Brother, don't worry! I won't forget. "
Shou Hou said, and immediately led his hundred over bandits out of the lair. They first headed for East River Fox Mountain. This guy's goal was to reach East River Fox Mountain within ten days. Each of them had a horse, and they brought more than ten horses to prevent accidents on the way, which would affect the overall movement.
Seeing Shou Hou and his brother leave, the bandit leader looked at One-eye and said, "Brother One-eye, you guys go first. I'll personally bring up the rear, and keep a distance of three miles from you."
One-eye said, "Brother, my division is responsible for the transportation, and I'm afraid it'll be very slow for us to walk in front!"
The bandit leader nodded and said, "Brother, I know. It's because you guys walk slowly, that's why I'm letting you guys walk in front. If my division walks in front, the distance between us will increase."
One-eye nodded and said, "It's been hard on you, Brother. I'll make sure my men do a good job and strive to walk faster, so that we can reach East River Fox Mountain as soon as possible."
The bandit leader nodded in satisfaction.
As the roads along the way were more complicated, and they couldn't pass through checkpoints, it wasn't practical to use vehicles to transport goods. In many dangerous places, vehicles weren't allowed to travel. If the bandits wanted to transport treasures, they could only choose to use horses. In many steep mountain roads, vehicles couldn't pass through, but horses could. Using horses to transport treasures was a good idea, and it was very practical.
However, the number of horses owned by the bandits was limited. If they were all used to transport treasures, there wouldn't be enough horses for the bandits to ride on. Moreover, after the horses carried the goods, it wasn't easy for them to walk on their own, and they needed to be led by the bandits. Therefore, most of the bandits could only walk on their horses, and only a few of the bandits with high status could ride on their horses.
Although Foal and Fatty were small leaders, they were in charge of logistics. Therefore, under such circumstances, they weren't qualified to ride on their horses, so they had to walk on their horses.
Other than carrying the heavy treasures, the horses also had to carry the bandits' rations. The bandits who led the horses put their rations and weapons on the horses' backs, so that they could reduce their burden and walk faster and more easily.
After breakfast, One-eye and more than a hundred of his men set off first. They walked along the rugged mountain road. The bandits had already scouted before, and there were no soldiers patrolling on this road. Therefore, they walked so calmly. In the beginning, they were still a little nervous. However, after walking for more than 20 miles, they found that there was no danger and gradually relaxed their vigilance, thinking that no soldiers would appear.
In addition, after walking for 20 miles, the bandits became quite tired. After all, they weren't familiar with the road conditions, so it was naturally very tiring to walk. Moreover, they had to lead the horses, which was naturally even more tiring. This made the bandits walk slower and slower. Many bandits began to complain, especially those who were drunk last night and had a headache. They even said strange things.
"Brothers, this is just the beginning, and you're already complaining. When are you going to stop complaining?!"
One-eye heard his brothers' complaints and roared angrily. He knew that there were too many difficulties and obstacles along the way. Although the road was difficult to walk on at the beginning, the horses could still pass through it smoothly. Later on, when even the horses couldn't pass through the road, his brothers would be even more tired. This made him very worried.
Foal quickly said, "Brother Eye, don't be angry. Brothers, we're just complaining casually. It's not a big deal. Brothers, work harder, work harder!"
After being reprimanded by One-eye, the bandits all shut up. They couldn't win against One-eye. Even if they were angry, they could only endure it. Moreover, this was just the beginning, and they hadn't suffered too much.
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