Everyone knows that the soldiers who were dragged away by wolves are in danger, but this will be troublesome. If these people die in battle, their families can still receive pensions, but now they are dragged away by wolves. According to the law of Daliang, only

Can report lost.

Wang Xiaoming and Wang Xiaokuang were about to lead people to search for the whereabouts of these soldiers, but Zuo Sanxiang stopped them. "I have fallen into a wolf's mouth, there is no way to survive. I am also very sad about the death of these brothers. I will report death in battle and get some for their families."

Bar!"

"You can't conquer the West, General! This is a false report of military merit, and you will be held accountable!" Xiao Sui, a meritorious officer, immediately stepped forward to stop him.

"Ask me for your fault! False report of military exploits? What you said? These brothers fought bravely to kill the enemy and died miserably. How come it is a false report for you?"

"General Zhengxi, I apologize for not obeying your orders! The imperial court has its own laws!"

Zuo Sanxiang smiled slightly, "Very good, okay, Xiao Gongcao will lead the people to resist the wolves tonight. I believe that with Xiao Gongcao taking action, the wolves will fear the court's laws and retreat on their own!"

Xiao Sui's face changed greatly, "General Zhengxi, you are using your power to suppress others and avenging private revenge!"

"I am the General of the Conquest of the West, and I have the final say here! You will lead the patrol of the battalions tonight, and the commanders will probably have no objections!"

"General Zhengxi is wise!"

"I have no objection. I want to see Xiao Gong and Cao Yong retreat from the pack!"

Xiao Sui pointed at everyone and his face turned pale, "Okay, okay, I admit my mistake, okay, General Zhengxi can retaliate however he wants!"

"Well, that's right. Since Xiao Gongcao is weak and sick, we don't need him to lead the patrol!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and Xiao Sui left bitterly.

Zuo Sanxiang snapped his fingers and ordered his soldiers to keep an eye on Xiao Sui and "protect Xiao Gongcao from being snatched away by wolves at night!"

Sure enough, the wolves came again and lasted for several days. Just as Zuo Sanxiang said, the wolves fought to the death until the last one.

The threat from the wolves had just been lifted, and Loulan and some Di people followed.

However, people are always afraid of death. The sneak attack failed, so Loulan and Di Ren ran away.

In the next month, sneak attacks by the Loulan and Di people as well as some Huolong people killed nearly a hundred Liang Jun soldiers.

There was only one advantage to being harassed every day, and that was that no matter how good the oases and stone fortresses were, they would not stay there for one more day, so they arrived at Gaochang five days earlier than planned.

No one mentioned the walled city mentioned before. We had to march during the day and guard against wolves and enemy sneak attacks at night. We probably had no time to think about other things.

When we were still a hundred miles away from Gaochang, we ran out of food. Seven days before the food shortage, the Third Prime Minister Zuo sent fifty people to Gaochang to report to the Changping Protectorate, asking the Changping Protectorate to send someone to bring food and grass to meet them.

.

Counting the days, it should arrive on the second day of August.

A shortage of food would originally cause people to panic, but because Liu Jingchuan had prepared various bones and dried wild vegetables, and because it was only a hundred miles away from Gaochang, it would take at most four or five days to arrive, so no one was afraid.

From the day when food was cut off, all sneak attacks by Loulan people, Di people, and Fire Dragon people disappeared.

Everyone was happy and could finally have a good rest, but Zuo Sanxiang frowned after asking Ju Yongwen a few questions.

Ju Yongwen told Zuo Sanxiang that the place where Dajun is now is called Zhejianpo, and the road ahead will not be as flat as it is now, with many deep valleys and ravines crisscrossing it.

It takes at least ten days to walk from Zhejianpo to Gaochang, and Ju Yongwen also reminded Zuo Sanxiang

, we must divide our troops and cross the mountain to ensure that no one ambush in front.

Ju Yongwen never asked about military affairs along the way, and the Third Prime Minister Zuo immediately became alert.

"Your Highness, as far as I know, you are talented in literature and are quite accomplished in calligraphy, painting, music and chess in the Central Plains. Why are you suddenly interested in military affairs today?"

Ju Yongwen smiled bitterly, "I just want to return to Gaochang alive, and you know, without your protection, even if I return to Gaochang, I can't be the king of Gaochang! And in the eyes of the people of Gaochang, we are just the lackeys of Daliang.

You and I know it very well!”

"His Royal Highness is a cheerful person. Don't worry, we will definitely respect you as a prince. In a few days, you will be the King of Gaochang! Zuo will not treat you as a puppet, Zuo will treat you as a friend!"

"Friends?" Ju Yongwen looked puzzled. He had never had any friends in Luoyang for several years.

"Yes, I'm lucky to have you today, otherwise I would have failed miserably! I always thought that after leaving Yumen Pass, there was an endless desert and wasteland. Only today did I know that there is such a dangerous terrain here."

"General Zhengxi, there are still difficult-to-climb peaks to the west of Gaochang, but for now we should try our best to get to Gaochang as soon as possible to repair them!"

Zuo Sanxiang suddenly thought of something: "Prince, does everyone think so, get to Gaochang as soon as possible!"

Ju Yongwen was surprised, "Don't General Zhengxi think so? Get there early and you'll be safe!"

Zuo Sanxiang nodded, "I understand. They stopped harassing us when we arrived at Zhejian Slope, just to paralyze us and let our army just march without taking precautions, and then end up in one of the most dangerous places, or far away."

Somewhere near Gaochang caught us off guard! OK, I still have to fall into this trap!"

Ju Yongwen's face changed slightly: "General Zhengxi, are you saying that those Loulan people and Di people are going to ambush us on the only way we must pass?"

"Exactly, I want to raise the account to discuss matters, and His Highness the Prince must also participate!"

"I, I'm afraid my identity is embarrassing."

"No, you are the only one here who has walked this road. We can't handle it without you!"

After the promotion, all the commanders looked happy, except Liu Jingchuan, the grain and grass officer, who looked sad.

"General Zhengxi, are you approaching Gaochang soon? Are you here to lecture everyone today?" Wang Xiaoming asked first.

Third Prime Minister Zuo shook his head, "No, we will have at least seven more days, and the road ahead is difficult, and we have to be wary of enemy sneak attacks. And everyone knows that we have run out of food starting today!"

Everyone looked at each other, and Ma Hua patted his chest. "In the past month, every enemy we have fought has not left a pile of corpses and fled in haste. Even if this kind of enemy has an ambush, what should we fear?"

Third Prime Minister Zuo glared at him, "Commander Ma, when you and your brothers were cleaning the battlefield, did you ever pick up enemy arrows?"

Ma Hua touched his head and said, "I have never picked them up before. They all use sharpened sticks as throwing spears, and there are also people who throw stones! But I have never picked up their arrows, and they have very few knives!"

"Maybe your other battalions have captured enemy weapons?" Zuo Sanxiang glanced at everyone.

"No, I picked up two scimitars in this month."

"All our battalion seized were bone spurs wrapped around wooden sticks!"

"Our battalion picked up a broken knife!"

The replies from each battalion gradually silenced everyone. Zuo Sanxiang asked Ju Yongwen, "Your Highness, based on your understanding, these Loulan, Di and Fire Dragon people can't even use knives and arrows now?"

Ju Yongwen shook his head, "No, the Loulan people are very good at blacksmithing, so they will not be reduced to having no knives to use, and the Di people are good at using their own bones to make arrowheads, so they have no shortage of arrows!"

"Do you understand now? In the past month, the enemy has been paralyzing us and deliberately killing a few people, but in fact they are not even willing to let go of the arrows. Why? Because they are waiting for us to kill us in a place with extremely unfavorable terrain.

All the arrows are aimed at our army! Are you still not afraid now? An arrogant soldier will be defeated, everyone, please remember!"

Zu Nayan looked at Ju Yongwen, "Prince, is there another way from here to Gaochang? Can we take a detour?"

Ju Yongwen shook his head, "It takes an extra five hundred miles to take a detour, and we have to climb over snowy mountains. With the current food and fodder of our army, I'm afraid all of them will die on the way!"

Zuo Sanxiang smiled, "It seems that there are some skilled soldiers among the Loulan people. It is expected that our army will not be able to climb the snow-capped mountains. Our army can only follow the route they designed! It seems that there is no solution!"

Only Zuo Sanxiang could still laugh. Everyone else realized the seriousness of the problem at this time. They had all come this far. Retreating was absolutely impossible, and detours were not an option. The only way out was to break into the enemy's path.

ambush.

Liu Jingchuan rubbed his hands and said, "Your Highness, will it suddenly snow in the desert? Whenever the weather changes, my joints will itch!"

Everyone laughed, it was August now, how could it snow, let alone in this hot desert.

Ju Yongwen nodded, "It's not impossible to snow in August. If it really snows, I'm afraid there won't be any need for enemies to fight. Our army doesn't have winter clothes!"

Zuo Sanxiang's face trembled, "Well, by the way, we only talked about our own difficulties. Don't Loulan and Di people need to eat to keep out the cold? By the way, Prince, do you know whether there are any in those valleys ahead?

Is there a cave?”

Ju Yongwen nodded again, "General Zhengxi is great. There are many caves on the cliffs on both sides of these valleys. Some are connected to hundreds of caves, and some are dead ends."

"That's right. If they want to ambush us, they must find a good place in advance and prepare weapons and food. Obviously, apart from these caves, there is no better place than this!"

Everyone laughed, "General Zhengxi is still great, so can we just take down all these caves one by one and run to the caves to find people?"

"No, no, no, according to the prince's description, there are at least tens of thousands of caves in these hundred miles. By the time we found the caves one by one, we would have starved to death on the road! However, when Zuo was a child, he had to kill badgers in the caves.

They found it, set it on fire and smoked it with wet grass. It worked. Haha, this time, you might as well give it a try! Each battalion sent men and horses to set fire along the cave. If they encountered an enemy ambush, they formed a shield formation and covered their faces with wet cloth to set fire.

If there is smoke, take alternate cover and retreat!"

Everyone admired Zuo Sanxiang's arrangement, but Ju Yongwen bowed to him, "General Zhengxi, I have something to ask of you. This time, please show mercy to those who escaped from the cave.

Let them live!"

Zuo Sanxiang wanted to refuse, but hesitated for a moment, "Since it is the prince begging for mercy, I will definitely not kill them all. As long as they can escape from the cave and stop attacking our army, we will definitely not pursue them!"

Everything happened as Zuo Sanxiang expected. Loulan people, Di people and Huolong people united and hid in the cave. Although they were not going to kill them all, Zuo Sanxiang secretly ordered his soldiers to scatter the firewood prepared by each camp.
Chapter completed!