Water Margin people

Persian Gulf.

Zhang Qing was on patrol with his troops, and at this moment they were resting on a sand dune.

"General Zhang, this area is becoming increasingly desolate."

An officer asked Zhang Qing while drinking water.

This was not the first or second time that Zhang Qing had led his men on patrol. The plains on this side of the Persian Gulf were fertile and had abundant water resources. Although they had experienced many wars, there were still many people living there.

But during this inspection, they found that many villages were deserted, and these villages seemed to have been deserted recently, but they could not find where the villagers had gone.

"These villages were fine when we last patrolled. We even rested outside this village and everything was peaceful!"

A general said that they were resting near the village, which proved that the village had surrendered to Qi. If they had surrendered to Qi, then why did they suddenly leave?

"It's probably Saladin's doing again."

Zhang Qing finally came to the conclusion that there must have been coercion and inducement involved to make these people give up their fertile land and the villages they lived in, and the only person nearby who could do this was Saladin.

"General, there are traces of a large number of cavalry in the oasis ahead!"

A small group of cavalry came running to report.

"Let's go and have a look!"

Zhang Qing immediately called on his army to march out.

This is a small oasis with only a pond and a small patch of woods and shrubs.

"Looking at these horse tracks and the bonfire ashes, there should be a thousand of them."

A general checked the traces of the oasis and spoke.

Zhang Qing didn't say anything, but just rode his horse to check the oasis inside and out.

"There's nothing unusual, there are indeed a thousand people!"

Zhang Qing said.

"General, they only have a thousand men, not as good as us..."

Several generals were tempted. If the enemy had only a thousand people, they could chase them and kill them. Judging from the ashes of the campfire, the enemy had left the day before.

"Don't be in a hurry, just follow slowly!"

Zhang Qing stroked his chin and thought for a long time before he spoke.

Although the generals did not understand why, they quickly gathered their troops and left after the failed attempt.

The army slowly moved forward following the traces in the desert, and Zhang Qing kept staring at the footprints in the desert.

"It's a little weird!"

Zhang Qing narrowed his eyes and thought about it. After looking all the way, he finally found the problem.

"General, have you found anything?"

Several generals looked at Zhang Qing in confusion and asked.

"Look, the footprints of these horses and men are so neat, as if they were marching in formation. Look at the footprints we left behind when we marched."

Zhang Qing pointed at the footprints in front and then at the traces of his own army behind.

"The footprints ahead are clear and orderly, but ours are a bit messy!"

The generals also reacted at this moment. Just now, they were only focused on chasing and killing the enemy and did not notice the difference in the footprints.

"Those people are definitely not more elite than us, and their marching is not more orderly than ours! Then why do you say their footprints are more orderly than ours?"

Zhang Qing said.

Even when the Qi army was pursuing, they still maintained a fairly good formation. However, their footprints were somewhat messy during the march. The enemy were just scattered soldiers, and the march would only become more chaotic.

"General, is the enemy still planning to ambush us?"

The generals frowned and asked, how could those Arabs be their opponents? Even if they ambushed them, they would have no chance of winning.

"What if they don't have a thousand people? You've heard of the plan to reduce the number of stoves!"

Zhang Qing looked at the generals and said that during the Warring States Period, in order to confuse Pang Juan, Sun Bin ordered the soldiers to reduce the number of camp stoves, creating the illusion that the number of soldiers was constantly decreasing.

"Reduce the number of stoves!" "By the way, those bonfires are also abnormal!"

"Those bonfires are so neat! How can you light a fire so carefully? The ashes are all in one pile!"

"These are all traps, all snares!"

The generals quickly analyzed the matter.

The army stopped and everyone had a gloomy face. They didn't expect that the enemy would dare to ambush them. This made them feel a little embarrassed. Since the end of the Persian Gulf War, only their Qi army chased and killed others, but there was no way others would ambush and kill them.

"I saw those fires just now and I realized something was wrong. The Arabs don't know how to cook. They eat dry and hard naan and grilled meat when they camp. Naan will fall apart when it's grilled, and grease will drip when meat is grilled. Did you find these near the fire?"

Zhang Qing looked at the generals and said that there was no way to deal with the naan crumbs and dripping grease.

"So, those were deliberately arranged for us to see. The Arabs didn't camp there at all! They just wanted to lure us over there."

Zhang Qing looked around and finally came to a conclusion.

"These people are so brave!"

The generals said angrily.

"That's a lot of courage!"

Zhang Qing nodded.

"General, why don't we use their tricks to kill them?"

A general said that since they knew the enemy wanted to ambush them, they just needed to make some preparations and there was nothing to worry about. The Qi army had absolute confidence in its combat power.

"Well, let's go and take a look! I want to see how many troops Saladin can send. Besides, it will be a problem for them to relocate these civilians. This is already our territory!"

Zhang Qing said that people are also property. These people belonging to the land of Qi are the property of Qi and must not be given up easily.

"keep going!"

Zhang Qing gave the order.

The army continued to pursue following the footprints on the sand dunes.

In the desert, a bandit was secretly observing the movements of the Qi army.

"Go tell the general, the enemy is still advancing!"

A bandit wearing a black veil said to several of his men who were also wearing black veils.

A sand bandit rode away quickly on his horse.

Even in the desert, these bandits hid very well. They cleverly hid behind the sand dunes and then left along the sand dunes, perfectly avoiding the sight of the Qi army.

The Qi army marched until dusk.

"Where's the scout? Where did they find out?"

Zhang Qing looked at the generals around him and asked.

"The scouts have been sent out for thirty miles, but no enemy forces have been spotted so far."

The general spoke.

"Are you trying to lead us around in circles?"

Zhang Qing frowned and said, it is not so easy to set an ambush in the desert area. Although the sand dunes are ups and downs, the scouts only need to control the high points and the enemy army will have nowhere to hide.

"What's the purpose? Our small number of troops being diverted won't affect the overall situation. Could it be that their ambush circle is far away?"

The generals frowned and said that if the enemy was not going through so much trouble, it would seem unnecessary if it was not a sneak attack.

"Are you planning to launch a surprise attack at night?"

Zhang Qing looked at the desert around him and the sun gradually setting in the west. It was getting dark, and the desert in the dark night was like another world.

"General, this is a desert, there is nothing to burn, there is a deserted village five miles ahead!"

A general said that the desert was very cold at night and they needed to light a bonfire for warmth and illumination.

"Let's go to that village first!"

Zhang Qing nodded and gave the order. (End of this chapter)