The army led by Fu Yun was no more than 10,000 people. This time, Li Jing left a large number of supplies in Juru River, selected 30,000 elite cavalrymen from the army, and collected all the compressed dry rations left in the whole army. Only then did they have enough rations for the expedition.
The soldiers' rations were solved. For the sake of water and pasture for the warhorses, Li Jing chose the southern edge of the Chaidamu Basin. The mountain road here was difficult to walk on, but at least there was some sparse vegetation and a seasonal river formed by the melted snow from the snow-capped mountains. There were also some grasslands on both sides of the river, so the pressure on the warhorses' supplies was greatly reduced.
In the Chaidamu Basin, in addition to the places where the river flowed through, there were more areas that were boundless Gobi Desert. It was desolate and boundless, and even birds were extremely rare.
In the vast Gobi Desert, a lonely Tang Army faced the wind and sand and went on an arduous expedition.
The army crossed the desolate desert. In order to take a shortcut, they also crossed the desert and crossed Aljin Mountain. Finally, they reached the border of Jiemo.
A large number of scouts were sent out. Their goal today was to find the Chechen River before sunset. Once they reached the Chechen River, they would not be far from Jiemo.
Suddenly, the scout of the front army rushed back and shouted, "We found the Chechen River. It's 20 miles ahead!"
"Awoo!"
Immediately, all the soldiers cheered. Without waiting for Li Jing's order, they all spurred their horses and galloped forward.
For the cavalrymen, a distance of 20 miles was just a full sprint. Soon, a wide river came into the sight of the Tang Army.
The thirsty warhorses could not wait to rush to the river and drink the cold water. One by one, the Tang Army soldiers also plunged into the river and drank the water with their warhorses.
Qin Huaiyu suddenly raised his head from the river and roared happily. He wiped the river water off his face and looked at the reflection of the setting sun in the river. He could not help but sigh and say, "Lone smoke rises in the desert, and the sun sets in the long river. Meton's poem can be said to be three parts of the wood."
Many literate generals could not help but nod and look at Meton. They had seen the majesty and vastness of the northwest along the way. Perhaps only Meton's poem was the most suitable.
Duan Zhixuan shook his head and said, "In my opinion, Mo Jiu's poem about the bright moon of Qin and the Han Dynasty, the long march of thousands of miles without returning is also very appropriate. We set out from Chang 'an City and fought all the way here. I'm afraid that we have traveled at least 5,000 miles! Including the return journey, I'm afraid that we have traveled at least 10,000 miles. "
Li Jing could not help but sigh. When he first set out, he had expected that the battle would be very difficult, but he did not expect it to be so difficult. The Tang Army not only had to overcome the harsh natural conditions, but also had to cross the complicated and unfamiliar terrain. In the absence of food, supplies, and backup, they had to carry out long-distance battles and large-scale detours to track down Fu Yun's main force and fight a decisive battle. The Tang Army would fall into an irrecoverable situation if they were careless.
Along the way, Li Jing could be said to be cautious, lest one wrong step would put the Tang Army in danger.
Fortunately, all this was about to end. As long as they crossed the Chechen River, Qimo City would be in front of them.
On the third day, the impatient 30,000 cavalrymen of the Tang Dynasty finally approached Qimo City. However, to everyone's surprise, Qimo City was empty and there was no one in sight.
Only the cow dung all over the ground and the grazed grassland proved that a large number of cattle and sheep had once stayed here.
"Fu Yun escaped again," Cheng Yaojin said bitterly.
Li Jing stood in the empty Qimo City with an embarrassed expression. This time, the Tang Army missed again. Fu Yun was old and cunning. He was the most cunning and difficult opponent he had ever encountered.
"Fu Yun can't have gone far. He retreated for at most ten days …" Meton looked at the traces of life under his feet and said with certainty.
Li Jing's expression eased a little. Ten days was not a long distance. When Fu Yun retreated, he brought a large number of cattle and sheep with him, so he could not move fast. Now, what he needed to determine was the direction in which Fu Yun escaped.
"Our army chased from the east. To the west is the vast desert. Fu Yun can only escape in two directions, the north and the south," Cheng Yaojin said.
"Yu Tian and Gao Chang." Li Jing said solemnly. Yu Tian was Fu Yun's benefactor. When Fu Yun was chased to the ends of the earth by the Sui Army, it was Yu Tian who took him in. It could be said that Yu Tian was Fu Yun's first choice.
However, it was not impossible that Fu Yun did the opposite. He misled the Tang Army to chase in the direction of Yu Tian and changed his allegiance to Gao Chang. Gao Chang was a powerful country in the Western Regions. They had always refused to obey the Tang Dynasty. Presumably, they would also take in Fu Yun.
If they chased after the wrong direction, they might not be able to capture Fu Yun again.
"Immediately divide the troops. Cheng Yaojin, you lead 15,000 cavalry to chase in the direction of Yu Tian. I will lead the rest of the cavalry to the north. Once you confirm that you have chased after the wrong direction, immediately turn back," Li Jing said firmly.
No matter how cunning the fox was, it could not escape the hunter's hand. Although Fu Yun was cunning, Li Jing had made a foolproof plan. He brought 30,000 elite cavalry with him. In terms of military strength, he had an absolute advantage.
"Yes, sir!"
Cheng Yaojin immediately accepted the order. The Tang Army once again divided into two groups, one to the south and one to the north. The Tang Army had already chased for 3,000 miles. Why would they care about a few hundred more miles?
The reason why Qimo City could be built was because of the abundant water source of the Qimo River, which nurtured the fertile grasslands on both sides.
"Hyah!"
Cheng Yaojin led a large number of cavalry upstream along the Qimo River, tracking Fu Yun's traces all the way, not letting go of any trace.
"It seems that we are very lucky!" On the third day of the chase, Cheng Yaojin pointed at the fresh cow dung under his feet and laughed heartily.
Meton also gently breathed a sigh of relief. The traces of cattle and sheep were becoming more and more obvious. It seemed that this cat-and-mouse game was coming to an end.
"All troops, retreat. Don't alert the enemy," Cheng Yaojin waved his hand and said insidiously.
Immediately, the Tang Army began to withdraw their formation. The Tang Army no longer lit fires. One by one, they picked up the compressed dry food and ate it on the spot. Even the scout's search radius was reduced by half. According to Cheng Yaojin's strategic intention, he would rather find the Tuo Army later and take them all down.
In the upper reaches of the Qimo River, a large number of Tuyuhun herdsmen were rushing a large number of cattle and sheep. Even if there were fresh grass sprouts along the way, these cattle and sheep could only take a quick bite and were immediately driven away by the herdsmen in a hurry to continue the march.
Around these cattle and sheep, a large number of Tuyuhun soldiers were guarding. These cattle and sheep were Fu Yun's last capital. Naturally, they had to be watched carefully and could not be lost.
"Kill!"
Suddenly, the ground trembled. A large number of Tang Army suddenly attacked from behind.
"The Tang Army is here!"
At this moment, the Tuyuhun soldiers were like birds startled by the twang of a bow. When they saw the Tang Army coming from thousands of miles away, they did not have the will to resist at all and collapsed at the first touch.
In this battle, 5,000 Tuyuhun cavalry were killed again and a large number of cattle and sheep were captured. However, Cheng Yaojin did not care about these at all. He only wanted one person, and that was Fu Yun.
"General, Merton, our army found Fu Yun's tent!" A bodyguard came to report.
Meton and Cheng Yaojin were delighted. They could not help but urge their horses forward.
Could it be that this time, they were going to capture Fu Yun?
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