As the Western Punitive Expedition Army continued to move forward, the originally desolate Gobi Desert gradually had a little bit of withered grass. The hungry warhorses couldn't wait to eat it up. As the army continued to move forward, more and more withered grass appeared. There were even low shrubs.
"We finally walked out of the Gobi Desert." Seeing that the front was no longer desolate, Hou Junji raised his arms and shouted.
The 100,000 soldiers cheered. Suddenly, the shadow over the army's head disappeared. They finally created a miracle. 100,000 soldiers crossed 2,000 miles of the Gobi Desert. This was something that no one had ever done before. But today, the Tang Army did it with minimal losses.
Of course, there were many reasons for this. Hou Junji set out in advance and had the foresight to turn the snow into water. There was also the fire weapon monitoring the water dragon carts to save water. There was also Qixin He Li who was familiar with the terrain and brought water.
"According to the map, there is a river 50 miles ahead. Everyone, speed up. We will camp by the river tonight!" Hou Junji looked at the map in his hand and confirmed the location. He couldn't help but be excited.
"Yes! General! " The soldiers opened their dry lips and shouted. They had been short of water for too long. Now that the water brought by Qixin He Li was about to run out, they urgently needed to replenish their water.
At that moment, the soldiers were no longer stingy. They drank what little water they had left and poured the rest to the warhorses. The army immediately sped up and rushed to the river.
"We are almost there!" As the army continued to move forward, there was more and more withered grass along the way. Although it was already spring, the northwest was bitterly cold. The grass here had not turned green yet.
Finally, under the expectations of the soldiers, a small ice river finally appeared in front of them. The weather here was extremely cold and the ice on the river had not melted yet.
"Cut the ice to get water!" Hou Junji waved his hand and ordered. The soldiers went down the river to cut the ice to get water. Many soldiers were so thirsty that they couldn't wait to drink the ice water that had just been fetched.
"You can't drink water!"
Suddenly, an urgent voice came and stopped the soldiers from drinking water.
Everyone turned around and found that the voice came from Mo Jiazi. The water that the army urgently needed was right in front of them, but he actually objected to the army drinking water to quench their thirst.
"What does Merton mean? Why can't I drink water? This isn't water from the Firearms Surveillance Bureau, is it? "Xin Yaoer frowned.
Meton sneered, "If General Xin wants to die young, then go ahead and drink!"
Xin Yaoer couldn't help but stare blankly at the water bottle in his hand. Even though he was extremely thirsty, he couldn't drink it. Although he was reckless, he wasn't stupid. Not to mention, everyone knew about Mo Jiazi's miraculous methods. He could see that Mo Jiazi wasn't doing well, but even he had to believe in Mo Jiazi's words. This was the power of Mo Jiazi.
He was now certain that if he forced himself to drink the river water, there was a high chance that something bad would happen.
"What's going on? Could it be that Gao Chang imitated the Xiongnu and poisoned the water? "Xue Wanjun, Niu Jinda, and the others hurried over and asked.
In that instant, Xin Yaoer couldn't help but shiver. He hurriedly threw away the water bottle in his hand. One must know that putting the corpses of cows and sheep in water was a common method used by the grassland tribes. Even the great Marquis of Champion Huo Qubing had died to this method, let alone a small Xin Yaoer.
"Everyone, stop drinking water. I've already sent the medical officer upstream to check on the water source. He'll be back soon." Hou Junji wasn't as ignorant as Xin Yaoer. He had already prepared for this method in the sand table and sent people to check on it.
Xin Yaoer's face couldn't help but turn red. Back then, during the military simulation, he had also remembered this matter. However, he was too thirsty and had completely forgotten about it. If he really drank the plague water, the consequences would be unimaginable. Although he didn't dare to compare himself to Huo Qubing, he didn't want to die young.
Very quickly, the medical officer rushed back and reported to Hou Junji, "Reporting to the general, we've already checked. There are no corpses of cows or sheep within 30 li of the river. There is no plague in the water."
Ever since the School of Medicine became popular, they had nurtured a large number of medical officers for the military. Now, there was no longer a need to recruit medical officers from the School of Medicine. Just the medical officers in the military were enough. This time, the Western Expedition Army had even brought along a group of medical officers.
Hearing the medical officer's report, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. It was great news that there was no plague in the water. The soldiers could finally rest assured and replenish their water.
"Isn't it fine? What a busybody," Xin Yaoer coldly snorted and muttered unhappily to Mo Jiazi.
However, just as he brought the water to his mouth, one of the soldiers holding the water suddenly fell to the ground and cried out in pain.
Xin Yaoer's face immediately froze and he quickly put down the water bag in his hand.
"What's going on? Didn't you say that there was no plague in the river? " Hou Junji angrily roared at the medical officer. These soldiers had survived the Gobi Desert. Now that they had left the Gobi Desert and found a water source, it would be a great loss if they died.
"This subordinate doesn't know either! There really aren't any cows or sheep in the river, "the medical officer said in fear.
"Ah! My stomach hurts too! " Suddenly, another soldier who had drunk the water cried out in pain. Soon, almost all the soldiers who had drunk the water were holding their stomachs and crying out in pain.
Xin Yaoer's face immediately turned ugly. If Mo Jiazi hadn't stopped him, he definitely wouldn't have been able to escape this calamity.
"That's right! Mo Jiazi! "
Xin Yaoer suddenly turned around. Mo Jiazi must have known something if he had stopped the soldiers from drinking the water in advance.
The other generals also reacted and stood up to look at Meton.
Hou Junji's eyes turned to Xin Yaoer and he angrily rebuked, "You really don't know what's good for you. Mo Jiazu saved you out of kindness, but you don't appreciate it."
Xin Yaoer looked ashamed and said, "I am ignorant and incompetent. I don't understand Merton's good intentions. Merton, please forgive me and save these soldiers."
Meton wasn't in the mood to watch the two's performance. He waved his hand and said, "General Xin, you're exaggerating. We're all comrades in the army. How can I just stand by and watch?"
Meton stepped forward and touched the round belly of a soldier who was crying out in pain. He couldn't help but frown and ask, "How much water did you drink?"
The soldier who was crying out in pain immediately looked ashamed. He was too thirsty and couldn't help but drink a lot of water.
"I've heard that when people are extremely hungry, they can't help but eat more when they encounter food. Even if they don't absorb the food, their bodies will still feel hungry. I think it's the same for drinking water. Moreover, the river water is ice-cold. It would be strange if their stomachs don't hurt!"
Everyone finally understood. This soldier still felt very thirsty after drinking the water, so he kept drinking. Even a normal person would have a stomachache after drinking so much cold water.
"Make him vomit. Otherwise, his life will be in danger!" Meton said to the medical officer.
"Yes!" The medical officer immediately stepped forward. Soon, the full soldier vomited a large amount of water. Only then did he feel slightly better.
"What about you?" Meton asked another soldier who had a stomachache.
"I only drank half a bottle of water!" The soldier endured the pain and replied.
Hou Junji asked in confusion, "This soldier didn't drink a lot of water. Why is he in so much pain?"
Meton explained, "I don't know if General Hou still remembers what I said about quenching thirst by looking at plum blossoms. In fact, there's a second part to this story. After the Cao army obtained a water source, the soldiers drank without restraint. More than half of them suffered from stomachache and more than a hundred soldiers died. At that time, the doctors called this the phenomenon of water poisoning."
"Ah! Water poisoning! " Hou Junji was shocked. Although he had his suspicions about water poisoning, he didn't think that drinking water could cause poisoning. However, the scene in front of him made him believe Mo Jiazi's words.
Compared to the Cao army, the western expedition army had traversed two thousand li of the Gobi Desert. The soldiers' bodies were probably even more dehydrated. If they drank a large amount of water, the poisoning would definitely worsen.
"Then is there a way to detoxify it?" Hou Junji asked.
Meton nodded and said, "That's right. The School of Mo has experimented with this phenomenon many times. In the end, they discovered that they only need to put some salt in the drinking water and turn it into salt water to detoxify the water poisoning. Of course, they can't drink a large amount of water or use salt water. Moreover, it's best to use boiled salt water."
Hou Junji immediately waved his hand and said, "Do as Merton said. All the water must be boiled. Put a small amount of salt in it.
Jiutian Shenhuang.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
