Water Margin people

Du Fu led his army westward. Du Fu increased the marching speed, marching more than a hundred miles every day.

"General Du, isn't this 100-mile daily march too fast?"

A military officer told Du Fu that a normal march was only fifty to sixty miles a day, and cavalry could only march a hundred miles a day.

"Those are past practices. They need to set up camp when marching, which slows down the marching speed. But we don't need that. We are in the territory of Qi, it is very safe here! We only need a simple camp! There will even be ready-made military camps in military states and prefectures along the way."

"In addition, we don't need to cook every day. The army has already prepared rations and drinking water along the way. We can start marching at dawn and march until dusk, which will speed up the march a lot."

Du Fu said that Qi State has changed many military habits since this year. In order to reflect the mobility of the army, many things have been simplified so that the army can focus on marching and fighting.

"Of course, this is not allowed outside the territory of Qi, but there are cities and camps along the Hexi Corridor that can provide us with food and lodging! But the daily marching distance must be strictly enforced. I want to reach Yumen Pass within two months!"

Du Fu looked at everyone and added.

"Two months? Sixty days!"

Everyone looked shocked. He knew that their journey was more than 7,000 miles and it would take 60 days to get there, which meant they would have to march at least 100 miles a day.

"Half of our troops are new recruits. They need some training, and this march is a great opportunity."

Du Fu looked at everyone and talked about his plan.

"Feng Tai, you will be the vanguard and be in charge of the marching route every day."

Du Fu looked at Feng Tai and gave the order.

"The last general takes command!"

Feng Tai immediately stood up and saluted.

From the Central Plains to Guanzhong, the official road is flat and straight, with sufficient supplies along the way. The march is very smooth, with the fastest march reaching 150 miles.

But once we got out of Guanzhong, the roads became more mountainous and difficult to travel on, so the marching speed suddenly dropped.

Du Fu watched all this without saying anything. Everything was within his expectations. Walking on the flat official road before was just a warm-up. The real test started from here.

"General Du!"

Liu Qi and Wu Jie found Du Fu.

"Are you leaving now?"

Du Fu looked at the two men and asked. He knew that the two men had other tasks before they set out on the expedition.

"The Desheng Army is ahead. We want to go home first and collect some intelligence!"

Liu Qi said that he and Wu Jie were both soldiers of Desheng Army, and that the army would go directly from Qinzhou to Lanzhou this time and would not pass through Desheng Army.

"Well, you go ahead!"

Du Fu nodded in agreement.

The two men saluted and left the team with their personal soldiers and headed towards the Desheng Army.

"Compared to the prosperity of the Central Plains, the Northwest is really a desolate place!"

Wu Jie sighed as he looked at the snow that had not yet melted and the endless mountains. He seemed to have become familiar with the prosperity of Liangshan City.

"Once the war is over, we'll bring our families over!"

Liu Qi said with a smile.

"Forget it. There's only my elderly mother at home. She's already familiar with everything here and probably doesn't want to leave!"

Wu Jie shook his head and said that his father had once served in the Western Army, but was injured and killed later, so he had few relatives and friends, unlike Liu Qi, whose father was the Jiedushi of Luzhou Army.

"Haha, let's win this battle first!"

Liu Qi changed the subject and said that his father had returned to his hometown after the fall of the Song Dynasty. His father was very stubborn and considered himself a minister of the Song Dynasty. He was unwilling to be an official in the Qi State.

After walking for half a day, Wu Jie and Liu Qi parted ways. Liu Qi was going to the Desheng Army headquarters, while Wu Jie was going back to Longgan County.

The northwest wind picked up and the snowstorm began again.

Wu Jie sighed as he felt the familiar wind and snow, then led his troops towards the familiar small village.

The villages in the northwest are very sensitive to strange armies. There are many foreign tribes here, and they often come to plunder. The imperial court in the past could not care so far away, so it turned a blind eye and regarded it as nothing as long as the foreign tribes did not attack the state capital. This made the villages in the northwest form self-defense. Once abnormalities were found, the villagers would unite to resist. They even dug trenches and built sentry towers around the villages.

"It's me, Wu Jie!"

Wu Jie looked at the young man on the watchtower and shouted.

"It's Brother Wu!"

The young man holding a crossbow on the watchtower shouted excitedly.

"Brother Wu is back!"

The man on the watchtower shouted to the village.

Soon many people came out of the village, including men, women, old and young, and they all had weapons in their hands. It seemed that everyone was a soldier.

"Mother!"

Wu Jie bowed to his parents.

"It's good that you're back. Let's go home!"

When Wu's mother saw her son return safely, she was so happy that she cried.

"Big brother!"

Wu Jie's younger brother Wu Lin came up and gave Wu Jie a hug.

Wu Jie is very prestigious among the young people in the village. A group of young men surrounded Wu Jie and asked about the situation in the outside world.

Wu Jie briefly described the situation outside, and the young people were all fascinated.

When there is a happy event in the village, everyone comes to congratulate.

"Grandpa, I came back just to visit my mother and will soon join the army on the Western Expedition!"

Wu Jie looked at the village chief and said, this is the oldest elder in the Wu family, and in terms of seniority, he is his great grandfather.

"Do you need help from the village?"

Although the old man's face was full of wrinkles, his eyes were very clear and he could tell at a glance that Wu Jie came back to ask for help.

"I want a map of Qilian Mountain. If possible, I want to take some brothers out with me!"

Wu Jie answered directly.

"Where are we going to fight?"

The old man was silent for a moment, whispered a few words to a middle-aged man beside him, then looked at Wu Jie and asked.

"Yes."

Wu Jie nodded. He knew that his great grandfather had once served in the army under Zhong Yan. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong, the Tibetan chieftain Gui Zhang invaded Minzhou. Zhong Yan led his troops to suppress the rebellion and fought in the Qilian Mountains.

"Sure, you can take any young people in the village who want to leave and help them find a future!"

The old man nodded.

"Master, you agree!"

The group of young people were very excited. They had wanted to go out for a long time, but the grandfather would not let them.

"You are simple-minded, and the people outside are treacherous. How dare I let you go out? But now it's different. Qi is different. I feel relieved when you go out!"

The old man smiled and said that he had lived to such an old age and had seen everything. He knew very well what the Song Dynasty was like. These young people would probably be left with no remains if they went out.

But Qi State gave him a different feeling. Since the arrival of Qi officials, not only did they no longer have to pay heavy taxes, but the foreign races and bandits also disappeared. These days were the most peaceful time in his life.

Soon a box was brought over and handed to the old man.

"This contains a detailed map of the eastern part of Qilian Mountain. As for the western part, General Zhong never went there."

The old man handed the box to Wu Jie. This was the detailed map he had recorded. (End of this chapter)