Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 45 Always ready
Since setting out on the expedition, Huo Xian's greatest feeling has been marching, marching continuously.

It was late spring when they set out from Chang'an, and it was already summer when they arrived in Shuofang. The army continued to march out, which was the real journey beyond the border.

At a glance, you can see the vast grassland, but it is not flat, you can still see some mountains and hills.

The scene of seeing cattle and sheep in the grass when the wind blows did not appear for the time being, because the Huns did not dare to graze horses near the border of the Han Dynasty, so even though there was abundant water and grass here, they did not dare to look around for too long.

Gongsun He rode up to Huo Xian and said, "Xian'er, you can order your troops to take off their armor and set up camp in front to rest."

Huo Xian asked, "Uncle, is it time for my troops to withdraw?"

"Yes, your troops can rest now." Gongsun He couldn't help but curse, "This damn sun is really hot, quickly order your troops to bring some water over."

Huo Xian did not try to be stubborn and immediately ordered the cavalry of the Jianzhang camp to take off their armor and rest. Although the temperature in the south of the desert was slightly lower than that in Chang'an, it was summer after all.

Chen Ju handed over the water bag and said, "My Lord, drink some water."

Huo Xian patted the water bag on his waist and said, "I have it here, don't worry about me. Tell the boys to hurry up, or we can kill a cow first."

Zhao Hexi was a little worried. "Sir, why don't you kill a sheep? We just killed a cow yesterday. If we keep eating like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the city where we can surrender."

"If it's not enough, let's go rob or find some!" Huo Xian said generously, "Let's cook sheep and slaughter cattle for fun. Kill the cattle quickly!"

The Jianzhang camp cavalry cheered immediately. One cow was definitely not enough for more than 800 people. But when Guanjun Hou slaughtered cows, they usually kept them overnight. They ate all of them in one meal, so everyone could get some beef.

Even though only some senior military academies could eat all the beef they wanted, ordinary soldiers could at least eat dry rations with beef, which was much better than other armies.

Zhao Anguo swallowed his saliva and said, "My Lord, beef is better than mutton! I only dare to eat it when I go out of the border, I wouldn't dare to do that in Chang'an!"

Huo Xian said in agreement, "In Chang'an, we can only eat old cows. I dare not eat sick cows. Fortunately, I bought some cattle and sheep before leaving the border, otherwise it would be unpalatable."

This was the only way Huo Xian had no problem eating. Before going to the border, he specially bought some cattle and sheep and asked the baggage team to drive them across the border together.

"Feng Dan, send some to the general." Huo Xian looked at the meat and saw that it was almost done. He said, "If the general scolds again, just say that I have no more beef. This is my last meal today."

Feng Dan said with a smile, "My Lord, I said the same thing yesterday. If the general knows that we still have eight cows, he will definitely scold us again."

"You are the one who got scolded for the Lord!" Liu Mo said, "The Lord bought the cattle and sheep himself, so you can eat them however you want!"

Cao Zong threw a water bag, but the bag contained not water but wine.

The wines of the Western Han Dynasty included rice wine, wheat bran wine, and even wine made from sugarcane, so the alcohol content was naturally not high.

"Drink sparingly, or you'll run out of wine if you drink too much." Cao Zong reminded him, "I can't bring too much wine, so I'm afraid I can only drink a few more sips."

Huo Xian chuckled, took out a garlic and started peeling it. It wasn't because he liked eating garlic, but for hygiene and health reasons. It was difficult to pay special attention to personal hygiene after leaving the border.

After eating and drinking, Huo Xian called the Xiongnu guide who was accompanying the army, "We are out of Wuyuan County now. If we go further north, we should reach Shoujiang City, right?"

In the second year of Yuanshuo, Wei Qing captured Yinshan Mountain and the Hetao area to its south, set up Shuofang County and Wuyuan County, repaired and rebuilt the Great Wall of Qin Shihuang as an important strategic facility for northern border defense.

The guide replied, "Sir, if you go further north, you will reach Shoujiang City. There is a grassland ahead, called Caolu Kulun."

Cao Zong said, "Sir, ahead is the Zhaobei Great Wall built by King Wuling of Zhao."

Huo Xian asked suspiciously, "You're trying to trick me into not reading history, right? We've already crossed the Great Wall."

"Hey, there are more ahead!" Cao Zong explained with a smile, "But it's not as good as the Qin Great Wall built by Meng Tian. Most of them are for blocking the mouths."

In fact, during the Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty, the Great Wall was collectively called "Sai". The "Sai" in the north that Cao Zong mentioned also referred to some scattered passes and city barriers.

Huo Xian and his men are now in Wuyuan County, which is the birthplace of Lu Bu in history, and the famous "Baotou".

In history, Liu Che decided to build a Great Wall on the plateau outside Wuyuan County two years later as a forward position to defend against the Xiongnu's southward advance. He then sent guerrilla general Han Shuo and Changping Marquis Wei Kang, which was the "Guanglu Pass".

It is also called the "outer city" by many people because this section of the Great Wall was built outside Wuyuan County and Shuofang County.

Historically, this is also the origin of the "Cities outside the Great Wall", which opened up the road to the Huns' homeland outside the Beilue River.

Huo Xian listened carefully to the explanations and gained a better understanding of the area. However, he would still make some comparisons in his mind and judge the location on the 'map'.

While they were talking, Feng Dan came back. Although he looked playful, he must have been scolded.

Feng Dan jumped off his horse and trotted over. "Sir, the general said that there is no need to send him delicious food. He also asked me to tell you to eat less, as he might not make it to the city of surrender."

Huo Xian just chuckled and pointed at the fire. "Take it yourself. If you get too hungry and thin, I won't be able to talk to Uncle Feng when we get back."

After eating and drinking his fill, Huo Xian lay down on the grass. He must be tired from the long journey.

Zhao Anguo and others have no time to rest yet, they still have to feed the horses and so on.

Although the grass here is green now, war horses cannot only eat grass. In order to maintain physical strength, bean cakes, wheat bran, etc. must be mixed into the feed. Now there is no corn, but a little egg can be mixed in.

Chen Ju stepped forward, pinching Huo Xian's shoulders and saying, "My Lord, the front troops have probably reached Shousu City."

"Yeah." Huo Xian nodded slightly and said, "I guess Uncle Zhao has already headed towards Junji Mountain. It might be dangerous then."

Chen Ju didn't care whether it was dangerous or not. "There are not enough cavalry this time. I guess we can only line up the infantry."

Huo Xian thought about it carefully and said, "Well, these are elite soldiers, and they are familiar with the formation. Let people prepare more arrows, because the Xiongnu's armor is incomplete."

"I'm not familiar with these places. I've never been here with the general before." Chen Ju said with some distress, "I'm a rough man. I can't tell east from west when I get to the grassland."

Huo Xian chuckled, "The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. If the sun is big enough, you can use the shadow method of a wooden stick to distinguish the east, west, south and north. You can also look at the stars and the trees to distinguish them."

Hearing what Huo Xian said, Chen Ju felt proud, "Your Excellency is indeed very talented! When we followed you to the battle before, we just charged forward. You are so good that you can find the Xiongnu even if they cannot find their location."

Huo Xian smiled. Although he had only been in the army for two years, he had at least learned some experience in surviving in the wild. He also had some basic military skills.

After resting for a while, Huo Xian felt sore in his back and waist. He was really tired from the bumpy journey.

"I think the army will have to rest for a few days after arriving at Shoujiang City." Seeing that the soldiers were all exhausted, Huo Xian said, "Send someone to look around to see if they can find some brave Xiongnu people."

Chen Ju immediately understood that finding those Huns was not just a military achievement, the most important thing was that he could get some supplies.

Not only Huo Xian was thinking about replenishing some supplies, Wei Qing was doing the same.

He also sent out some scouts to search everywhere. If they found some small tribes, they would definitely destroy them and replenish their supplies.

However, it seems that the Huns are not that bold. Along the way, we basically only saw some wild animals, but no Huns.

Occasionally hunting musk deer, deer, yellow sheep, etc. is just a drop in the bucket.

Fortunately, the supplies we brought with us are sufficient, so we don’t need to worry about food for the time being.

The army continued to march forward and was getting closer and closer to the city where they would accept the surrender.

Huo Xian was also very clear that this meant that war was approaching and could break out at any time.

He needs to be prepared at all times. This time there are more infantry and fewer cavalry. If a war really breaks out, his 800 cavalry must show adequate performance.

Moreover, we must keep an eye on the situation on Zhao Po Nu's side. We cannot let the 15,000 cavalry be wiped out!
(End of this chapter)