Eight hundred cavalry and two thousand four hundred war horses, from the books, seemed to be a very capable assault force, but these eight hundred people were like a drop in the vast desert, with no support or supplies, and the team was led by a 17-year-old boy who had never been on the battlefield. The chances of winning this battle were too small.

The troops were moving forward for more than ten miles, and the team began to whisper. The veterans were all old foxes who had been on the battlefield for decades. How could they not tell the nature of the mission? They were rushing forward lightly and three war horses were all the rhythm of rushing thousands of miles. However, such a major task should be dispatched to send elite troops. What is this configuration? The young generals with no experience and prestige, hundreds of old soldiers in their forties and fifties, this is not a rushing attack, but a death.

Gradually, the noise became louder and louder, and the entire team fell into pessimism and suspicion. The survival rate of the frontier garrison soldiers was extremely low. These veterans had experienced countless tests of life and death, and were all from corpses and blood. They finally retreated to the second line and acted as the camp. Now they were taken out by the general's nephew to die. How could they easily surrender?

Huo Qubing was unaware of it. In his impression, the soldiers were just a group of puppets with no sense of autonomy. They followed the orders, and were beheaded at every turn. No one dared to disobey or doubt the orders of his superiors. So when several military marquises under him raised questions, he was furious and held the hilt of his sword with his hand.

"Just training, you are all veterans in a hundred battles. Even training is afraid of being like this?" A familiar voice sounded next to him. It was the teacher who was talking. Liu Yanzhi was wearing leather armor, an iron helmet on his head, and his eyes were in the shadow of the helmet. Others did not doubt it.

"Yes, train troops." Huo Qubing said.

After hearing this, I felt relieved and parted ways. The team continued to move forward.

"I should have been asked to kill them!" Huo Qubing said angrily. After all, he was a seventeen-year-old boy and his understanding of how to manage his subordinates was very simple and crude.

"Who will lead your troops after killing these military marquises?" Liu Yanzhi said softly, "For generals, they should give their kindness and power, and the most important thing is to give their subordinates hope."

Huo Qubing seemed to understand, but this small setback made him unhappy. He waved the whip on the butt of the horse and galloped. Riding was not about talent, but made perfect. The Huns grew up on horseback and could shoot rabbits with small bows and arrows at the age of five or six. But the Han family did not have this condition. The cavalry only came into contact with war horses after joining the army. It would be strange that riding could be comparable to the Huns. Huo Qubing's living environment was very superior. Boys learned riding with their uncle since they were young, and their horse skills were not bad. The soldiers saw that the master general was skillful in bowing and horse horses, and they were not noble men who had imagined that they were powerless. This trip was just a training, and they put their hearts back in their stomachs.

A night passed, and Huo Qubing's freshness also passed. The sequelae of riding on the horse for a long time emerged. His delicate buttocks were worn out with blood blisters by the saddle, and his thighs were red and swollen. The march was extremely difficult, not only the wind and sand, but the food was poor, but he was just about his fullness.

The life of the garrison soldiers was very hard. Even if they were stationed in the camp, they just ate some corn porridge, noodles, pickles, and occasionally some fruits and side dishes. They only received wine and meat before and after the victory. They rarely consume animal protein on weekdays. They couldn't even eat hot rice during marches and wars. They only had dry, hard and storage dead noodles and pickles.

Military pickles are complicated to make. Take a foot coarse cloth, soak it in a liter of old vinegar, expose it to dry, cut it into a scale of inch by inch. When eating, put the vinegar cloth slices in your mouth and chew it to increase appetite. Or use three liters of fermented black beans to form paste, add five liters of salt to twist it into a cake, dry it, and eat a piece of date pit as big as a meal.

Huo Qubing, who grew up with such crude food, was really hard to swallow. He said he was not hungry and would not eat a bite of dry food, but the sound of the gushes betrayed him.

The personal soldier handed the water bag, and Huo Qubing took a sip and vomited: "What kind of water is this?"

"Pond water." The personal soldiers replied. The well water brought from the camp had been drunk. Now the water bag contained water from the oasis pond. This pond is usually a place for wild horses, wild donkeys and wild camels to drink water. The water quality is turbid and there are also camel dung dung. It would be strange if it tastes good.

"How can a man drink such water? He doesn't deserve to wash his face!" Huo Qubing asked. As soon as he said this, countless eyes were casting over him. The soldiers had chapped their lips and dark faces. They were holding cakes in their dirty hands and drinking precious water carefully. This small pond was unable to supply 800 cavalrymen and more than 2,000 horses to drink. It was rare to drink a sip of water.

"Give them a reward." Huo Qubing was angry but weak. He finally knew the hardships of the war. It was just a marching and he had not encountered the Huns' military attacks.

But he would rather die of thirst than drink water with the smell of camel dung.

A big gourd was handed in front of him, and Huo Qubing looked up, which was the gentle look of the teacher.

"I said it, I won't drink it." Huo Qubing said.

The gourd pulled open the plug, and a sweet smell came to the nose, which was rice wine.

"Where did the rice wine come from?" Huo Qubing was overjoyed. He took the gourd and took a big sip. He was still unsatisfied and took a few more sips before he remembered the teacher.

"Teacher, please." Huo Qubing presented the gourd with both hands to Liu Yanzhi.

"Share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and you can get the morale of the army." Liu Yanzhi said.

Huo Qubing could see through it at a moment, and asked his personal soldiers to give the gourds to the veterans one by one. Sure enough, he got a lot of joy. Although there were very few wines and only a dozen people could benefit from it, a general who was willing to share the wine with his subordinates was always popular.

Liu Yanzhi took out a golden roast lamb leg from the sleeve of the robe. Huo Qubing was drooling, took the lamb leg and feasted, and finally filled his stomach.

After the eight hundred cavalrymen had a full meal, they continued to advance north. The soldiers were full of suspicion and walked forward to the Huns. If they met the Huns scouts and attracted the enemy's army, these eight hundred lives would have to be left here.

Several war horses approached Huo Qubing, and the military marquis advised him with great thought: "Sir, there is no way forward. If you go deep into the desert, you can't find the water source, and you will be thirsty."

Huo Qubing pointed a horse whip with a casual finger: "There is a spring in the fu 50 miles away."

The military marquis looked at each other. It was too casual. The spring oasis in the desert was very sparse, and there were few reference objects on the surface. Only the most experienced guide could accurately find the water source on the way, but that was limited to the roads that had been explored. However, the road that Huo Qubing took was a completely new road without traces of herders. Just imagine how could there be a water source in the area where even shepherds dare not go deep.

But the lieutenant vowed and said that he could not find the water source and then he retreated back to the camp. The military marquis had no choice but to persuade the soldiers. The team walked forward fifty miles. When they were trapped, they saw an oasis from afar.

The oasis is very small, with only a dozen trees, a cluster of green grass and a pond with a radius of only thirty steps. Fortunately, the pond is connected to the underground river and cannot dry up no matter how much it drinks. Eight hundred soldiers drink full of water, the animals drink full of food, and even the water bags are full. When night comes, before setting off again, everyone gets over supper on the horse's back.

Liu Yanzhi took out a pot of rice wine and a roasted lamb leg as if he was magical. Huo Qubing finally realized that the teacher did have magic skills, not only could he accurately find the water source, but he could also turn wine and meat out of thin air.

"Master, can you make more changes so that all the soldiers of the army can eat meat and drink wine?" Huo Qubing was full of expectations, but the answer he got was no.

"The magic power of your disciple is limited, so you can only care about your food and drink alone." Liu Yan said straight.

He did not make wine and meat, but bought it from the city of Hedong County thousands of miles away. It was okay to have a small quantity, so it would be difficult to bring him eight hundred lamb legs. As for finding water sources, it would be even easier. Just fly high into the sky and look at it, and you can see the oasis within a radius of hundreds of miles, and there is no possibility of getting lost.

This time, Huo Qubing became smart and shared the wine and meat with the soldiers. He came to ask the teacher what to do next.

"It's time to tell everyone." Liu Yan said straight, "Your prestige has been established, and now it's the best time."

So Huo Qubing summoned the lower-level officers to announce the real purpose of the trip to them, and rushed to the Xiongnu royal court thousands of miles away. Everyone showed an expression of "I knew it before." It was over, and it was impossible to object. The team had already penetrated into the desert and could only go one way to the dark.

"Abide by the orders of the lieutenant," the officers said in unison.

"Start the pace from tomorrow, and the Masha people will not stop and attack the Shanyu royal court! Those who do not follow the military orders will be killed!" Huo Qubing drew out his sword and inserted it into the sand.

The eight hundred cavalry rested for three hours and embarked on the journey again. In front of them, there was no longer the Gobi desert, but the endless quicksand. The quicksand was like water, changing with the wind. At least there were still spots of green on the Gobi. The quicksand area was full of yellow. When the wind blew, the sky was covered with sunlight, and the direction was unclear, and it was completely a place of death.

But only by following this path can we avoid the Huns' military fronts. This is the hinterland of the Huns. Nomads fight at their doorsteps, familiar with the environment, and find out all the routes the Han army will pass. Hundreds of thousands of troops will defend separately, and they will bite back when they see the opportunity. Who would have thought that a surprise soldier was passing through the desert, like a sharp dagger, reaching the soft lower abdomen of the Huns from the most incredible angle.

After tearing off the disguise of "training", everything entered a state of war. Eight hundred cavalrymen were eating, drinking, defecating and urinating immediately. Whoever could not keep up with the team would be left behind. The ending of being thrown in the desert can be imagined. In fact, some soldiers were indeed unable to keep up with the team and were thrown into the desert to fend for themselves.

The three hundred miles of desert devoured the lives of more than 200 soldiers and 500 war horses. The rest were all tough guys who had experienced the test of life and death, from will to body.

After the six hundred knights emerged from the desert, they could not find any shadow of the Han Dynasty cavalry in their image. They looked like herders who had lived in the desert for many years. They had unshaven beards, foul-shaped bodies, and dirty robes. The only thing that could tell their identities was the ring-headed sword made of fine iron.

Only Huo Qubing did not suffer any grievances. Even in the desert, he still drank rice wine and ate lamb legs every day, and occasionally there were melons, fruits, pears and peaches. Others even saved water. He had enough water to wash his face and clean clothes to replace his clothes. Liu Yanzhi was a father who dotes on his son at this moment. He didn't want his son to be wronged at all. He also had to deliberately establish his prestige and make achievements for him.

This goal is getting closer and closer. If you walk another fifty miles, you will be the Chanyu royal court.

The Shanyu royal court was not a fixed place. Nomadic people lived by water and grass, and the royal court was also mobile. It was difficult for the Han army to find the place of the royal court. Now the main force of the Han army is hundreds of miles away, and the royal court is peaceful. There are only more than two thousand elderly, weak, women and children waiting for their sons and husbands to return triumphantly.

But what they were waiting for was the butcher knife of the Han army.
Chapter completed!