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Chapter 1181 Damascus
Basically consistent with Hong Tao's guess, when the nobles of Samawah heard that the Ming army had driven back the Sunni militia from Basra and would not allow them to cross Samawah to the west, they immediately responded positively.

He asked for 2000 men instead of 3000, and asked them to bring their own weapons, camels, horses, rations and water, so as to resolutely prevent the army from having to worry too much.

When he heard that the Ming army had more troops coming and would be stationed near the city for a period of time, he was almost moved to tears and immediately gave a more positive response. He took the initiative to ask to bear the responsibility of supplying food and grass for the garrison, and hoped that more troops would come and stay longer.

Hong Tao did not covet the food and grass, mainly because he was worried about the safety of the food and drink provided by the locals. But he did not let them get away with it, and instead added 500 slaves to pull the boats and drag the large sailboats up the river.

Another requirement is to provide a guide and find local people who are familiar with the trade route to Damascus. The work should not be in vain and they should be paid in golden imperial gold coins.

What the ancient Arab region lacked the least were merchants and gold, silver and bronze craftsmen. Due to geographical reasons, they could not become a purely agricultural or nomadic people, and the surplus people could only survive by relying on their skills and long-distance trafficking.

In ancient Rome, the Mesopotamian valley was an important trade route connecting the East and the West. Goods from the East first traveled westward along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and after arriving in Baghdad or Ramadi, they were transferred to camel caravans and crossed the Gobi Desert for more than 500 kilometers to Damascus.

The reason why Damascus became one of the most important provinces in the ancient Roman Empire was not only because of its strategic location, but also because of its trade. In Chinese, it is said that it is a thoroughfare connecting four provinces, and it is the only way to travel from north to south, east to west, and it was merchants who created its prosperity.

Hundreds of years ago, silk and porcelain from China had entered the Mediterranean and spread to Europe through this trade route, so much so that the word damask in modern English is pronounced Damascus.

But the ancients also said that things change over time, and any place connecting four provinces is often easily affected by war.

The Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Mongols, Egyptians, and Turks all came one after another. Anyone who wanted to control the dominance of this region had to take Damascus first.

Now the Ming army has arrived, and without any surprise, they are heading straight for Damascus. At the end of February, the Ming army abandoned their ships and landed in Ramadi. After two days of rest, under the guidance of local Shiite merchants, they followed the ancient trade route that was no longer very prosperous and entered the heart of the Syrian desert.

This desert is a little different, there are no continuous sand waves, no rolling yellow sand, but more of a hill with yellow rocks as the main body. But it is also very dry, hot during the day and cold at night, with a big temperature difference.

However, Arab merchants were not afraid of this vast and barren land. They had been traveling in it for generations and had long since found a corridor running through the east and west. Camel caravans came and went every year.

The desert is not completely barren, sometimes a few herdsmen and large groups of camels suddenly appear. The guide said that they live in the desert, feeding dromedary camels on underground rivers and a few oases.

Whenever he sees these people, Hong Tao sighs at the tenacity of life and the injustice of heaven. Some people are born on the throne, while others are trapped in the desert for several lifetimes, and being able to wash their faces every day is a luxury.

Of course, the sigh was not sincere, but deliberate. It was mainly to spur the officers and soldiers who were accompanying them, and let them temporarily forget the hardship of marching through the desert. If anyone felt tired or thirsty, they could just look at the herdsmen living in the desert, and they would immediately feel much happier. Unfortunately, the method of spiritual victory could not shorten the journey, nor could it turn the rugged mountain road into a thoroughfare, nor could it make the soldiers grow wings, so that the road they should walk would not be shortened by even a meter.

The straight-line distance of just over 500 kilometers, if the Ming Army's drill manual stipulates that the daily march is no less than 30 kilometers, it can be completed in half a month. If there are enough horses to assist, the time can be shortened to about 10 days.

However, even with a large number of camels, the Ming army still found it difficult to reach the speed specified in the drill manual when traveling through the ravine-filled Gobi Mountains. It took 22 days to reach Dumaier Village.

According to the guide, it would take more than a day to go west from here to Damascus. But there was a small problem: the army could not move along the relatively flat and wide trade route, but had to climb north to the mountainside.

Because there is a large swamp wetland to the east of Damascus. Due to being soaked by meltwater from snow-capped mountains for many years, both the underwater and exposed land are very soft. Not to mention humans and animals, even wolves will be trapped if they go in.

Is it really as scary as the guide said? There is no need to question it without basis. The Warrior Battalion that followed the Shiite militia to explore the way forward already has field exploration data, which shows that it is indeed impossible to pass through and the area is very large. It is unknown how long it will take to go around it.

The topography of Damascus is a bit like that of Beijing. It is surrounded by mountains on the north and west, making it difficult to travel; the terrain on the south gradually rises, with gullies crisscrossing and basically no paths; the east is relatively flat, but has been turned into a swamp wetland by the Barada River and Farerfa River flowing down from the mountains in the north.

The only road that the army can pass is on the mountainside in the northeast direction. The mountain is not very steep and the altitude is not very high, but the road is not very wide. It goes up and down the mountain in a crooked way, a bit like a dragon that can only be seen from the head but not the tail.

At this time, Hong Tao's attire changed again. He was dressed exactly like the Shiite militia, except that he replaced his headscarf with a helmet. He was riding on a camel, looking listless in the sun.

"Rest where you are and raise the hot air balloon!"

After listening to the Warrior Battalion's reconnaissance report, he looked at the mountain road from a distance with a telescope, but did not make an immediate decision. As he spoke, he climbed off the camel's back and stretched his arms and kicked his legs on the spot.

The long journey did not cause much harm to his body. Although he was in his fifties, he was sometimes stronger than young soldiers. After setting up camp and resting every day, he would go around looking for people to play a few rounds of playing cards with.

But psychologically I felt very depressed. I didn't see a single Ottoman soldier along the way and was not harassed once. It was so abnormal.

This 500-plus kilometers of desert Gobi area is Damascus' natural defense. As long as the defending generals are not stupid, how could they not send small troops to harass?
There was no need to pursue how much damage was done. Just using the darkness to toss and turn once or twice every night would make the Ming army alert and miserable, and wear them out. Even if a few hundred cavalry were lost, it would be worth it.

(End of this chapter)