"Greetings, General Hou!" Meton saw Hou Junji's arrival and immediately went forward to greet him.
Hou Junji's expression changed. He immediately laughed and said, "Merton, could it be that you're dissatisfied with this general? How could you hide such a brilliant desert marching plan from me?"
Meton was not afraid at all. "General Hou misunderstands. This desert marching plan was an idea that came to me not long ago. It's still uncertain whether it will succeed or not. This is only my first experiment. I wouldn't dare disturb the general before I succeed!"
Hou Junji's expression couldn't help but look expectant. "Then how is Mo Jiu's experiment going?"
Meton proudly said, "It's a great success. With this method, the carriages will be able to traverse the desert unhindered. We won't have to worry about sinking into quicksand anymore."
"Really, Chancellor Mo, why aren't you popularizing this method? We are suffering greatly from the quicksand!" Niu Jinda complained with a loud voice.
"That's true. The Mo Family's Mo Technique is famous. We've admired it for a long time!" Xue Wanjun added.
Hou Junji wasn't the only one who was alarmed by the firearms supervisor. The other generals also came to investigate. It must be known that almost all armies had difficulty moving through the desert. Now that they heard that Mo Jiazi was able to surpass them in the desert, covering thirty li in a single day, they naturally understood that Meton must have grasped some method of marching that they didn't know of. They couldn't wait to ask him for guidance.
Meton smiled bitterly. "This is just an old trick. You'll know when you see it."
Under Meton's lead, the group of generals arrived outside the firearms supervisor's carriage. They saw that it was still the same carriage, but the wheels made everyone frown.
"Old Man, this is the first time I've seen such a wheel." Niu Jinda walked around the wheel of the Firearms Supervisor's carriage twice and couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.
Ordinary carriages had two-wheeled carriages. Later on, Mo Jiazi developed four-wheeled carriages. However, for the sake of multi-purpose transportation in the military, coupled with the high load capacity, eight-wheeled carriages were directly added. Moreover, each of the wheels was extremely wide. However, the Firearms Surveillance Unit's carriages were even more different. The wheels had been removed, and they had been replaced with long oval belt wheels. Impressively, they were the caterpillar wheels of the later generations.
The carriage of the Firearms Surveillance Bureau carried a lot of weight, but the caterpillar wheels only sank slightly. When the carriage was moving, the caterpillar wheels would constantly rotate, allowing the carriage to move forward steadily. Naturally, the speed of the carriage would be slower than the normal road wheels. However, in the desert, the advantages of the caterpillar wheels were fully displayed. The sand was like flat ground, and it was a hundred times better and faster than the wheels that sank into the sand.
"This carriage and the sled are indeed different methods to achieve the same result!" Xue Wanjun exclaimed in admiration.
"General Xue is right. This was an idea that I came up with after marching on the snowy road. Since the wide sled can allow the carriage to slide on the wide snow, it can also bear the weight on the sand. However, the sand naturally can't be as smooth as the snow, so I thought of using caterpillar wheels. This way, it has a wide bearing surface and can move forward. It can solve the problem of sinking into the sand when marching in the desert," Meton explained.
The generals couldn't help but sigh. Mo Jiazi was indeed Mo Jiazi. He really did come up with one strange idea after another, and it was an eye-opener for them.
No one would have thought that marching on the snowy road and marching in the Gobi Desert, two seemingly different methods, were actually the same. Both methods used the winter hat and gloves designed by Meton to survive the harsh cold.
When marching on the snowy road, Mo Jiazi used the chariots of the Spring and Autumn Period to move through the snow. Then, Hou Junji imitated Mo Jiazi's method of moving through the snow and created a strengthened version of the chariot to move through the snow. It directly pushed the frozen snow away.
Mo Jiazi's chariots were unable to break through the frozen snow, so he came up with the idea of using a horse-drawn sled to ski. It was even more ingenious to use this method to solve the problem of marching in the desert.
Previously, Hou Junji was still proud of himself for imitating Mo Jiazi's method of moving through the snow. Now, it seemed that Hou Junji was only imitating his method of moving through the snow. He didn't imitate Meton's method of moving through the snow. It was rather comical.
"Mo Jiu's caterpillar wheels are indeed amazing. However, this is a vast desert. There are no trees and no blacksmiths. It's too late to improve it now!" Xin Yaoer snorted coldly.
Meton shook his head and said, "It's not too late. All we need to know is that in the desert, the greater the contact area between the wheels and the sand, the greater the contact area between the wheels and the sand. Most of your eight-wheeled chariots are enough to pass through most of the sand. If the sand is soft, the chariots can also pass through it by laying down a wide wooden plank. If the chariots are stuck in the sand, they can also tie wooden sticks to the wheels to increase their grip. They can also escape from the sand pit."
All the generals nodded. They were indeed stuck in this predicament. Although Meton's method didn't allow them to use caterpillar wheels, it could still allow them to pass through the desert smoothly.
"Of course, this is probably the last time the Tang dynasty will be trapped in the desert. In the future, even if we have to cross the vast ocean, with these caterpillar wheels, our soldiers will still be able to cross it smoothly," Meton said solemnly.
All the generals nodded.
Hou Junji looked at Mo Jiazi with a complicated expression and said, "Since the Firearms Supervisor has caught up with us, the entire army will continue to move out. Let's try to cross this desert as quickly as possible."
"Yes, sir!" All the generals answered in unison.
Immediately, the western expedition army continued to move out. Everyone was marching with all their might. It was a race against time.
Ten days later, the army finally crossed the desert. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief. As long as they crossed the desert, their marching speed would be greatly increased.
"Why is there so little water here?" When the army of one hundred thousand reached the nearest supply point, Hou Junji couldn't help but fly into a rage when he saw that there were only a few ice cubes.
The Gobi Desert wasn't completely devoid of water. Thanks to the efforts of the Silk Road merchants, the Gobi Desert had sporadic water sources. Before the march, Hou Junji had already collected enough information about the Gobi Desert's water sources.
However, although the Gobi Desert had water, it was extremely limited. It could only alleviate the army's water shortage. A small amount of spring water could indeed satisfy the needs of traveling merchants, but it was impossible to satisfy the water needs of an army of one hundred thousand.
"Perhaps the winter is too cold, so the spring water is frozen and blocked." Xue Wanjun carefully examined the water source and couldn't help but say with a gloomy expression. This was the most important replenishment point for the army. If there wasn't enough water here, the army would be in danger.
Hou Junji helplessly said, "Do your best to collect spring water, even if it's just ice cubes. Then continue marching."
There was no turning back, so they could only stubbornly press forward. In history, there had been cases where an army had crossed the Gobi Desert and advanced westward. Thus, Hou Junji could also lead his army through the Gobi Desert.
"Yes!" the generals replied.
Fortunately, there was still some ice water in the spring, and the army had collected enough snow water. Along the way, they had strictly controlled the amount of water that the soldiers drank, so they were not at the end of the road.
Even so, the army passed through several replenishment points, but the situation was still not optimistic. The springs here were either too little water because of the ice, or they didn't have enough water to begin with.
As the army continued to advance, the stored water dwindled. Even though the army was doing its utmost to control its water use, they quickly reached the end of the line.
Hou Junji couldn't help but grimace. He had never imagined that his plan to send out the army in the spring would end up in such a perilous situation.
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