Chapter 669 658. Sweet Water Oasis
The cold north wind sandwiched the snow on the top of the mountain and blew it head-on, as if it had been slapped a dozen times, and the cheekbones were frozen red.
This time in Wall Village, Suldak assembled a cavalry battalion consisting of 200 cavalrymen, 50 guard battalion reserve knights who had just graduated from the Knight Academy, and 30 mercenaries, plus Andrew, Guli Temu, Viru...there are nearly three hundred people in total.
In the desert, a team of this size can be regarded as a powerful bandit group.
The cavalry battalion of Suldak can only be infantry soldiers who can ride horses for the time being. As for the young reserve knights of the security squadron of the guard battalion, they are a group of novices who don't know anything. Thirty mercenaries from the giant mercenary regiment.
The old village chief led the whole village to see Suldak off at the entrance of the village. Old Sheila, Natasha, and Rita also stood at the front of the group. Rita hugged little Peter. This time, Suldak Almost all the horses in the village were taken away, and they traveled through the entire barren land, and went on an expedition to the northeast desert to fight against those desert bandits. Such a feat has never been done in the barren land for so many years.
A senior hunter in the village, who has now become the driver of Woer Village, Uncle Zanmutala, grabbed Suldak and said to him earnestly: "Don't go too deep, be careful not to let those wind wolves Keep an eye on the pack. Every winter, those wind wolves will gather in packs. They even dare to attack those hibernating brown bears on the edge of the Pagros Mountains. As long as they are hungry, there is nothing they dare not do, and you will never I can't imagine how many of them there are..."
Suldak led the horse and was surrounded by a group of villagers.
The old village chief Brett’s face was almost full of wrinkles, and he whispered to Suldak: “If you can’t find the desert robbers, come back quickly, be careful that there will be occasional snowstorms in the desert.”
Suldak said to the village chief Brett: "Don't worry, Uncle Brett! We went this time, not only brought three guides who are familiar with the desert, but I also found a Hawkeye. Complete the map of the southern part of the desert, and wait for the good news of our triumph!"
Captain Gabriel Gerry, who was at the front of the team, turned his head and said to the villagers standing at the entrance of the village to see him off: "We are professional in dealing with those desert bandits, all you need to do is prepare enough gold coins. "
Suldak hugged Karl again, and Karl could only whisper to Suldak: "Bring them all back to me safely..."
Obviously, he was a little worried about these reserve knights.
"Take care all the way!"
"You too, Duck!"
Karl just stepped on the horse and set foot on the concrete road leading to the Pagros Pass.
He will return to Hailansa City today, and Suldak will take this team to another road.
…
Suldak took the young reserve knight among the team and headed towards the desert in the northeast corner of the barren land.
The horseshoes trampled the gravel on the barren land with a crisp sound, and the barren land was still covered with a thin layer of residual snow. The team walked north along the artificial canal, and when they bypassed the entrance of the underground river, it was completely covered with ice and snow. A huge icy lake was formed, and some reeds and red thatch grew around the icy lake. After entering the winter, these grasses have turned yellow.
In the center of the barren land, there is a great rift valley running from east to west. This great rift valley winds for nearly a hundred kilometers. The team did not go through the middle of the great rift valley. Detour on the west side of the valley.
Walk west along an ancient path, avoiding a dead land covered with volcanic ash, and crossing the desolate Gobi to reach the edge of the desert.
The reserve knights still have a solid grasp of equestrian skills. They rode horses and followed the mercenary group. Some people were whispering and talking, as if they were discussing this trip to the desert.
After nearly four days of intensive training in the barren land, these veterans have barely adapted to riding horses, but their equestrian skills are not very proficient, and now they can only sit on the horseback honestly, holding the reins tightly with both hands and not daring to let go After driving, their bodies looked very stiff, but at least they could ride horses and move forward with the large army.
More than 70 camels were at the end of the team, and dozens of veterans were lying on the back of the camels in an extremely ugly posture. The posture of crawling on the back of the camels was really weird, if it wasn't for Gullitum The team stared at the back, maybe they couldn't ride the camel all the way forward.
Suldak found three guides in a village near the desert. They are the best hunters in the village. They are very familiar with the northeastern part of the barren land. They have even been to the edge of the desert many times. They know the edge of the desert. There are several oases in the city, and I also know where to meet the wind wolf this season.
That's right, Suldak wants to find the wind wolves, but he doesn't have a lot of primary sacrifices in stock. It may not be a good thing to meet those wind wolves.
Because there are experienced local guides in the team, there is no need for Viru to use the 'Boundary Vision' to explore the surrounding terrain before walking out of the barren land.
Suldak rode a horse and walked side by side with Andrew. The two were discussing how to improve the riding skills of these veterans. In fact, this form of travel is the best training for these veterans.
This time Suldak did not distribute those full-coverage armors to these veterans. The clothes they wore were still tattered, and there was no exquisite leather armor. From a distance, they looked like a group of nomads in the wilderness. The full-coverage armor was not only heavy, but also required a lot of physical strength for the horses. Except for a few dozens of horses that were assembled temporarily, the other horses could not support the heavy cavalry at all.
And Suldak didn't prepare extra leather armor, so this time the cavalry battalion appeared to be in tatters, like a wandering nomad.
Viru seemed very leisurely mixed in the team. It seemed that such a cold wind couldn't blow him at all, and his horse also bowed its head all the way forward.
The reserve knights of the guard battalion were whispering in the cold wind. According to the knowledge they had learned in the books in the knight academy, this team would not last long at all. Apart from the extreme climate and the cunning and vicious desert robbers, the team The biggest problem facing is living supplies.
Each horse only carries a bag of beans, and the team is about to enter the desert, where they will not get any supplies. This amount of beans is probably only enough for the horses to eat for three or four days, Gabriel G. Before setting off, the head of the Li regiment reminded Suldak whether the 70 camels behind should be organized into a logistics supply team for transporting fodder, but Suldak said that it was not necessary.
Along the way, Suldak didn't bother those villages along the way, but there were some aboriginal people in those villages in the team. When passing by their gates, some people would always be extra excited, and some villagers stood at the entrance of the village, watching Su Erdak's team passed by slowly.
The sky is clear, the sun is a little harsh.
Several vultures are circling high in the sky.
"Dak, look at that side..." Andrew pointed to a not-so-high cliff a few hundred meters to the left, and said to Suldak.
Suldak turned his head to look carefully, only to find that Selena was riding a dromedary, waiting on the high cliff. She wrapped herself in a thick fur cloak, and quietly watched the team move from under their feet. After passing by, seeing Suldak looking towards her, he patted the camel and walked down the hillside...
Selena came to Suldak on a camel. Her face was covered with a light veil, her **** eyes were exposed, and there was a hint of stubbornness in her eyes. Looking at her eyes seemed to say: 'Even if you drive me away, I won't leave! '
"Why are you here?" Suldak rode up, leaned over his body, and put the leather cone hat on the back of the fur cloak Selina was wearing on her head to help her block the cold wind.
Selena stared at Suldak, and said to Suldak with some guilt: "I think the robbers in the desert should be willing to accept the teachings of the goddess and be favored by the goddess of the night."
"Um, well..."
Regarding Selena's remarks, Suldak felt that he really had no good reason to refute.
Selina has already walked so far out of Wall Village alone, and even if she is asked to return the same way, she probably won't do what Suldak said, so it's better to let her stay in the team. Suldak asked her: Who takes care of Signa in the village? Selena said with certainty: Signa can take care of herself...
Only took a short break at noon, and continued on the road without even starting a fire to cook. It was not until nightfall that they crossed the Great Rift Valley and the dead land shrouded in volcanic ash.
Came to the northeastern part of the barren land. This is the area where desert bandits appear frequently. On the data map that Andrew personally counted, desert bandits appeared very frequently here. Unfortunately, no unlucky bandit group bumped into them this time.
The local guide found a small mound with a half-moon-shaped depression on the south side, which can accommodate at least a few hundred people camping at the same time, and there are animal feces and remains of campfires here. Obviously, more than one team has camped here.
Suldak's tent was set up almost immediately after the team stopped. When Selena and Suldak walked into the tent, Andrew and Gulitum were guarding the tent like two door gods. outside the tent.
Under the command of Captain Gabriel, the members of the mercenary group performed their duties, almost setting up a tent, lighting a fire, cooking, and feeding the horses at the same time. These mercenaries had a clear division of labor and were very organized in their work. The mercenary group only needs to build five tents, and they are distributed in a five-pointed star.
Although the veterans of the cavalry battalion have average riding skills, they have rich experience in setting up tents and raising campfires. They also set up camps according to squads, and each squad has its own tent.
As for those reserve knights from the Knight Academy, after the very failed exercise last night, they finally learned to be smart tonight. Although they lack experience, they are not stupid. They also set up the tent in a decent manner, and the three local guides also ran over to help point out some of their deficiencies on the spot.
Someone suffered from the cold last night. At this time, they put down their arrogant faces. Although they still won’t say any words of thanks, at least they won’t be ashamed of the guide’s guidance.
Suldak stayed in the tent for a quarter of an hour before walking out of the tent again.
This time he almost went directly to the horses, and the mercenary group had already started to feed the horses with water. Suldak took two quick steps, smiled at the mercenary, and said, "Fortunately, I didn't come too late." Night…"
As he spoke, Suldak pulled out a large bundle of wild hair vines from his magic pocket, and piled them up in front of the mercenary...
The young mercenary was also stunned. Who would have thought that the employer in front of him would extravagantly use a magic pouch to hold this kind of cheap grass, and this bundle of grass was very strong, although it was not as good as alfalfa, but It can also be regarded as the rattan plant that Gu Bolai Ma prefers to eat.
It's just that this kind of wild hairy vine is rare near the city of Hailansa. This kind of vine is almost found in the mountains on the outskirts of the city, and it is even more impossible to grow this kind of shade-loving vine in the barren land. This kind of vine can only be found in Pagolos. Mountains can only be found, but no one is willing to cross the mountains and go all the way to the sinister Pagros Mountains to harvest those livestock fodder.
Suldak put a large bundle of wild hairy vines in front of the mercenaries, then went straight to the two veterans of the cavalry battalion in charge of the horses, pulled out seven bundles of wild hairy vines from the magic pocket in front of them, and ordered them to take these The forage is crushed, mixed with some bean feed and then fed to the horses.
At the beginning of dinner, Gullitum held five pieces of wheat cakes and a large bowl of porridge cooked from marching rations, squatted next to the horses and poured a large bowl of food into his stomach, and then looked at those The camels gathered together were drooling, and the camels were so frightened that they huddled together and shivered.
After dinner, Suldak invited the head of the mercenary group, Gabriel, and the local guides, Andrew and Viru, into the tent, spread a map full of various symbols on the square table, and began to discuss tomorrow's route.
According to Suldak's estimate, the team will probably enter the edge of the desert at noon tomorrow and leave the barren land. The desert is a completely unfamiliar place. The robbers in the desert are used to hiding near the oasis in the desert. In order to clear the oasis first, a reliable plan needs to be determined in advance.
Captain Gabriel pointed to an unknown desert on the map, and said to Suldak: "I know that there is probably an oasis here, and there is a sweet pool there. If there is no accident, there may be robbers living there! "
Suldak picked up a charcoal pencil, drew a big circle in that unknown area, and said to everyone: "Then this will be our first stop!"
gone tonight
(end of this chapter)