Chapter 4 Chapter 3 The Flood

At the end of Emperor Xian of the Later Han Dynasty (AD 190-213), Suo Mai led a thousand soldiers from Dunhuang out of Yumen Pass to the banks of the Qom River, which flows through the eastern part of the Takulamakan Desert, to establish a new military settlement.For thirty years, the Han army had not crossed the border and set foot in the so-called land beyond the Great Wall. Three hundred years have passed since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty conquered the Western Regions by force. During this period, the Han and the Huns often used the Western Regions as a stage to fight endlessly. Yumen Pass and Yang Pass were sometimes opened and sometimes closed; Sometimes it is the side of the Kunlun Mountains where the great Han Tianwei spread far, sometimes on the contrary, the Xiongnu's cavalry went straight to Yumen Pass, and even the Yellow River Basin was allowed to be plundered and jumped.

From the former Han Dynasty to the later Han Dynasty, the emperors of all dynasties felt helpless against the Huns. Once the Huns were not eliminated, the Han Dynasty would be unable to rest.To obtain Hexi, you must attack the Xiongnu; to defeat the Xiongnu, you must first pass through the Western Regions.But the road to the Western Regions is far away and dangerous, and the Hu people are beast-hearted, rebellious and impermanent, which makes sending troops to the Western Regions costly. Therefore, the Han Dynasty had to abandon the Western Regions, and the rulers of the imperial courts of all dynasties were also in power. This fateful situation is repeated helplessly.

As for Suo Mai's entry into the Western Regions, it was nothing more than repeating the same thing that had been repeated countless times in the long history.Thirty years ago, the Han court abandoned the Western Regions. In recent years, the Xiongnu's jumping beams have become more and more rampant.It was Suo Mai's task to take the lead and go to the Western Regions to build a garrison to prepare for the large-scale deployment of the Han army in the future.Regarding Suo Mai, it is recorded in ancient books: "Suo Mai, a native of Dunhuang, with a character of Yanyi, is rich in talent." But everything before he sent troops to the Western Regions is completely unknown.

Since ancient times, most of the soldiers sent to the Western Regions were desperadoes.During the time of Emperor Wu, Zhang Qian, who was first envoy to the Western Regions, led a group of scoundrels. Li Guangli, the second division general who entered Dawan in order to seek a good horse, was also mostly desperate people who were not afraid of death.As for Ban Chao and Ban Yong, who later made great martial arts in the Western Regions, they were no exception. They all collected scoundrels and desperadoes from all over the world and organized them into their own troops. Even if the huge organization of the Western Regions Expeditionary Army is like this, it is not difficult to imagine the origin of the thousand field soldiers under Suo Mai's command.The middle-aged military general who came out of the country in his forties and a half, selected a group of desperadoes from the frontier guards in Dunhuang who did not take their lives. These people were incorporated into this army, and everyone was born Possesses the arm strength to pull a strong bow.

Not only Suo Mai, who is the commander-in-chief, but everyone thought that once these thousand soldiers crossed the Yumen Pass, they would never be able to return to Han soil in this lifetime. On this day, Suo Mai rode a camel at the head of the army. When the tail of the team was about 200 meters away from the pass, he stopped the marching troops temporarily. A chance to say goodbye to a country I will never see again in this lifetime.The troops had started gathering at dawn, but they were unexpectedly delayed for preparations for departure. At this time, the fiery sun had climbed very high, and the city wall of Yumen Pass had its gray shadow emerging in the bright sky.

Suo Mai stopped his eyes on the towering watchtower in the middle of the Yumen Pass for a long time, then moved his eyes away, and immediately resumed his usual bright-eyed and determined expression, and ordered to move on. Suo Mai had spent most of his life fighting against the Xiongnu, wandering around the border, half his life as a soldier, and dedicated himself to conquering foreign races, so no matter where he transferred, he remained unmoved.However, this trip to Hudi has more or less different feelings.He understands better than anyone what it means to go deep into the heart of enemy territory to establish a stronghold. It is likely that you will spend your life in an endless and damnable war with the Huns, or it may mean that you will be smashed to pieces. Engaged in the capricious Western Regions in Huairou Nagan.And in order to feed themselves, they have to farm. Even if they are lucky enough to farm on the banks of the Qum River, they are unlikely to last in this desert for a long time. Unless the imperial court can actively support them, the ultimate fate of these soldiers can only Together with the farmland they built, they were abandoned in the desert.The current situation is that you can't expect the support of the imperial court at all. The Han Dynasty, which is gradually declining due to internal and external troubles, may change its policies at any time. It is a habitual mistake of the rulers in recent years.

Suo Mai's troops came to the endless sand sea this afternoon.From the third day onwards, the sea of ​​sand spreads out in gentle undulations, crossing a dune, and another new dune appears.From the fourth day, the troops began to advance in battle formation.That night, they found a small green field and camped here.At night, I don't know how to find out, there are more than a dozen men and women in strange costumes who come to sell drinking water. They are from the Yashai tribe. Somai called one of the young women into his tent for the night.The woman did not resist.Her carcass is as shiny as a layer of oil, and her skin is as cool as a fish's body. This woman is of Han Chinese blood and knows a few simple Chinese.

The woman told Suo Mai on the couch that this area used to be called Longdu, and it was once the capital of Qiang.This was the first time Suo Mai had heard the name Qianglai, a barbarian.From the woman's narration, I can't figure out what dynasty it is. I only know that this city is extremely vast.The city is built on a gentle slope near the lake. There is a wide canal that goes around the city and leads into the lake. Ascending to the west to look at the great lake, the canal looks like a giant dragon lying on its side.The vast land carrying the city is composed of hard and regular salt layers, and travelers have to spread blankets on the ground for the animals they carry to sleep peacefully.And this place is filled with dense fog all year round, day and night, so the sun, moon and stars are often not seen. Not only the Qiang people live here, but also many demons and ghosts live here. Finally, one night the great lake mutated, and this big city became It sank so deep into the sandpit.

When the woman was narrating all this, Suo Mai saw her face under the moonlight shining into the tent, and his heart couldn't help being drawn by her. The next day, Somai put the woman in the team, and at the advice of his servants, he disguised her as a man so as to escape the eyes of the tyrannical man, and brought the camel she was riding to his side. In the next two days, all the soldiers knew that a woman had been mixed into the team, but no one dared to approach the woman, and they were all afraid of Suo Mai. On the seventh day, they entered the field of sand and rocks, using human bones and animal bones as indicators for their journey.And from this day onwards, for three days in a row, every day I saw a deserted city outline, every city was half buried in the sand, and the watchtowers, towers, and every building turned to the west.These city walls must have been built by the Hu people. With the changes of the times, Han soldiers or Hun soldiers were stationed more than once, but now they are deserted and abandoned in the wind and sand in vain.

They saw these city walls that were about to be swallowed by the wind and sand one after another, and on the tenth day they came to a place that was only half a day's journey away from their destination, the Coombe River.The rain that had started the day before had turned into a torrential downpour today, and the men, horses and camels were all drenched.They pitched tents and camped in the heavy rain, but the heavy rain soaked through the tents and soaked into the tents, and the soldiers felt as cold as winter. That night, unexpectedly, more than a dozen Shanshan soldiers were ordered by the king to bring food to welcome them.In the middle of the night, three more Kucha merchants came to sell grain on camels.According to these Qiuci merchants, starting two or three days ago, a large army of the Huns was gathering at the tribe on the banks of the Qom River in Somai, where they were preparing to go to the village.

Although it was the middle of the night, when Suo Mai heard the news, he immediately ordered to pull out the camp and set off. He decided to make a sudden surprise attack and wipe out the Hun army in one fell swoop.So the troops set off overnight, forced their way in the heavy rain, and finally reached the banks of the Qum River at dawn, just across the river from the tribe where the Huns had gathered. Standing on the bank of the river, Suo Mai found that under the white light of dawn, the yellow and turbid river was rushing wildly, and it was impossible to expect to be able to wade through it.In fact, as long as people and horses can cross the river to the other side, it seems that it is not difficult to attack the Huns camp and make them flee. However, they were blocked by the roaring Qum River. Suo Mai stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.Reeds grew thickly on the bank of the river, and he couldn't find a tree to shelter him from the rain, so he had to let the team gather by the river and suffer from the rain.After about a quarter of an hour, a soldier walked up to Suo Mai who was staring at the raging current, and said that since ancient times, the only way to appease the wrath of the river dragon is to throw a living woman into the river as a sacrifice. Apart from doing so, I'm afraid there is no other way.The person who said this was a subordinate surnamed Zhang who had shared weal and woe with Suo Mai on the battlefield for more than ten years, and was also the most trusted confidant of Suo Mai Institute. Regarding Zhang's remarks, Suo Mai remained silent.Zhang then went on to say that if he crossed the river one day later, the Huns would increase their power relatively, which would be detrimental to our army.Suo Mai remained silent for a while, and then said: "Wang Zun built a festival and the embankment does not overflow, Wang Ba is sincere and does not flow, and the virtue of water is the same in ancient and modern times." Somai immediately ordered an altar to be built on the river bank and went forward to pray.He couldn't throw the woman into the turbulent current. He wanted to pray instead of using the woman as a living sacrifice to ask God to lower the water level of the Coombe River. It's not impossible. After praying for a moment, the yellow and turbid running water still did not show any change, and the water level even became higher and higher.Somai continued to pray for a moment, and the river finally overflowed the bank and came to the feet of the people and horses. Even so, Somai still refused to take a step away from the altar. Zhang approached Suo Mai and brought up the living sacrifice again. He said that, instead of continuing to pray and look up to the decree, it would be better to throw the woman into the torrent. The effect may be much faster, but seeing that Suo Mai did not agree Therefore, it was suggested to retreat immediately, so that people and animals would not be washed away by the flood. At this time, Suo Mai suddenly drew the saber in his mouth, looked up at the sky, his eyes widened, bearing the rain pouring down on his face.Zhang and a group of soldiers could only hold their breath, watching his appearance, Suo Mai's whole body exudes a threatening yin.Suddenly, the altar tilted, and it was submerged in the turbid current in a blink of an eye, leaving only the grotesque Somai standing there, letting the turbid current wash at his feet. After a while, Suo Mai moved his body, took down the knife in his mouth, turned to the troops, and shouted: "Although I am sincere and not connected with heaven, it is because there are fierce ghosts living in the river. If so, the only way to destroy them is with strength." , retreat the torrent and forcibly cross it." To the soldiers' ears, Suo Mai's voice was like thunder. From this time on, the rain stopped, but the water became more and more violent.Somai's troops retreated about a stone's throw away, and deployed in battle formation at a slightly higher place. First, the archers fired all their arrows at the center of the river, but they were swallowed by the torrent of loess in just a split second.After hundreds of arrows were shot into the river, the soldiers on foot screamed loudly and rushed to the river bank. Amidst the rumbling drums, the soldiers rushed into the flooded river, slashing their knives and guns in the knee-high water .They cut and stabbed the turbulent current, splashing water everywhere, and in this battle between heaven and man, several soldiers were washed away by the torrent and disappeared. Before the evening, the battle was repeated again and again. In order to obtain a higher terrain, the position of the formation was repeatedly retreated.Whether it is Suo Mai who is commanding the battle, or the soldiers who are fighting to the death against the torrent, the rushing yellow and turbid torrent looks like a giant monster.This monster is frantically oppressing and attacking overwhelmingly. At night, soldiers collapsed exhausted on the waterlogged terraces.Although the weather improved the next day, the water volume showed no signs of decreasing, and the turbid current even had more whirlpools than yesterday.The battle between Somai's troops and the Qum River began early in the morning.Just like yesterday, the soldiers shot arrows, threw stones, and waved knives and guns in the turbid current. The knives they swung were under the scorching sun that seemed to change from severe cold to scorching heat in the daytime. , flashing a strange light.The enemy is not to be outdone, and after every round of battle, several soldiers will always be devoured. Night fell again.Generals from Shanshan, Yanqi, and Kucha each led a thousand soldiers to the banks of the Qum River; Upon hearing the news that the army sent troops to the Western Regions, he immediately led the army to express his submission. Suo Mai decided to add such Hu soldiers whose language and customs were different from his own troops, and continued to fight at night.So the four thousand troops lined up in the desert under the vast moonlight and formed three horizontal teams. When the army drums beat, the soldiers of the first team rushed to the river with shouts, and waited until the first wave came. The soldiers retreated, and the second team immediately swarmed up to make up for it.However, the water potential still hasn't weakened, showing a black vortex under the moonlight, galloping and wreaking havoc. Suo Mai finally decided to make a desperate last assault.He gathered all the horses, let the strongest soldiers ride on them, and prepared to rush into the rapids with both men and horses.Suo Mai himself was the first to stand in front of the 300-plus cavalry, and when he gave an order, the horses picked up the dust and galloped.As soon as Suo Mai jumped into the rapids, he immediately waved his spear in a rampage, feeling that he was rushing downstream with his horse and man at a fast speed.After an unknown amount of time, Suo Mai and his mount washed up on the shallows.He hugged his horse's neck and climbed up to the river bank, only to see dozens of war horses standing upright on the bank, their wet bodies glistening in the moonlight.As a result, there were war horses who had lost their knights, and soldiers who had lost their mounts. The horses and soldiers climbed up one after another. Suo Mai ordered the whole team to be assembled, counted the number of people, and about half of the troops were lost.Being rushed far downstream, they had to spend nearly an hour wading across the flooded fields to return to the team. Back at the assembly point, Suo Mai once again issued an attack order to the surviving soldiers. This time he still wanted to take the lead, but his mount refused to take a step. Not only Suo Mai's mount was like this, but all the horses were the same Refuse to move forward.Suo Mai then drew his sword and used it as a whip, and rode his horse forward, and the soldiers followed suit.Based on the experience of the previous round, this time Suo Mai and the soldiers all gave up their spears and held swords in their hands.Soon, this team of cavalry gathered together again and rushed forward bravely to the river bank. Suo Mai approached the river, tightened the reins, and at the same time held his sword high, telling the soldiers who followed to stop.However, several riders failed to restrain their mounts and rushed into the river.Suo Mai opened his eyes wide, and couldn't believe his own eyes. The river, which was still full of ocean just now, had already lost half of its water volume before he knew it. Although the turbid current was still rolling, the banks of several feet were already visible on the water surface. Suo Mai called Zhang to come to him, and when the latter saw the scene, he just stood aside, staring at the river in bewilderment.There were deafening cheers of victory over the Combe River all around, wave after wave. Half an hour later, the troops were divided into several groups and crossed the river one after another.Immediately afterwards, the Han army, the Shanshan soldiers, the Yanqi soldiers, and the Kucha soldiers formed one body regardless of each other, and launched an attack on the Huns camp five or six miles away from the river. The fighting completely subsided at dawn, but it would be the third day for all the troops that pursued the victory to return to the team, because Suo Mai had strictly ordered that the enemy should continue to pursue until there was not a single soldier left. In the next year, Suo Mai stayed in the small tribe on the banks of the Qum River, which was taken from the Huns, and was engaged in the construction of military farmland.He first built a few temporary barracks, and then centered on the tribe, he brought water from the Qum River for irrigation, and developed a vast arable land on a large scale.Throughout the reclamation process, several countries headed by Kucha and Shanshan sent troops to assist one after another; Suo Mai crushed the heroism of the Huns in one fell swoop, and it has spread throughout the Western Regions, even the torrent of the Qum River. The rumor that they all had to be succumbed by his might made the Hu people of more than 30 countries scattered around the Takulamakan Desert even more terrified. Because Suo Mai was farming on the banks of the Qum River this time, the Huns never appeared in this area for a long time afterwards.Two towers were set up between this farmland and Yumen Pass, so using this as a stepping stone, the number of business travelers from the Middle Earth to the Western Regions gradually increased. Pass through here to Hantu. The merchants began to rumor that the Han court might restore the Western Regions as it used to be. The Han Dynasty, envoys from the Western Regions requesting the restoration of the guardianship, have passed by Suo Mai's residence and are on their way to the east. In the second year, Somai was engaged in the construction of barracks and city walls on a large scale.The camps are made of planks and bricks, with clay walls and ramie mat roofs.He built four large camps that could accommodate 500 soldiers, and built two watchtowers near the camps.The scope of the city wall is so large that, needless to say, barracks and training grounds, it also includes the entire tribe. There are also markets, temples, and cemeteries in the city.For this fortification, the countries of the Western Regions provided materials and labor.Languages ​​used on the construction site include Zogu, Khotanese, Hun, and Tu.Standing on the city wall, you can see the vast cultivated land spread around, in which waterways and ditches criss-cross, and poplar trees that have not yet grown up are planted along the banks, which virtually become the indicators of each waterway. Half of Somai's subordinates stayed in the city to build the city, and the rest went out with the nearby people to farm outside the city every day.This year they harvested 500,000 shi of millet and 500,000 shi of wheat each, which was the first harvest since they started farming, and it is estimated that this harvest will increase significantly year by year. The soldiers put the war behind them and concentrated on building the city and farming.Somai has always lived with the women of the Yashai tribe.This woman was taciturn and her appearance was not outstanding, but Suo Mai loved her very much.I don't know how much comfort this woman brought to Suo Mai's life in Hudi.In the huge camp, only Somai's room has a little color; a reed mat is spread on the clay bed, and a brightly colored blanket is spread on it.Water tanks are lined up on the ground, and glassware from the West are also displayed on the cabinets in the room.Although the woman does not wear makeup, she adorns herself with exquisite accessories. She wears a thin bronze ring, a jade necklace around her neck, and a pair of white jade earrings under her ears. The first harvest of wheat, that is, a full year before Suo Mai’s mission to the Western Regions, the imperial court rewarded Suo Mai through the long history of the Western Regions stationed in Dunhuang, and at the same time gave his troops an order to return to China.But Suo Mai told the court envoys that the new military settlements had just started construction and hoped to stay in the foreign land for a few more years.Suo Mai learned from his envoys that he fought the Qum River and made it submit, which has been praised as a heroic deed in the motherland.The envoy also said that once Suo Mai returned to the court, he would surely be awarded a title comparable to that of Li Guangli, the Ershi General who had made great contributions to Dawan. This has become a hot topic in the capital.For Suo Mai, it can be said that in the past half of his life, he had no chance to become a great success. Although Suo Mai kept silent, the news spread to the entire army immediately, and all the soldiers immediately caught the fever, and they only heard such topics wherever they went. The Yaxia woman also heard the news. She asked Suo Mai about it, and Suo Mai told him that he had no intention of returning to Han.Women are naturally lacking in expressions of joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. At this moment, knowing that Suo Mai has no intention of returning, a kind of joy made her eyes shine, and she suddenly became talkative.Her eyes were shining, she kept talking and laughing, and at the same time, she wore all the accessories on her body all day long. The appearance of a woman deeply touched Suo Mai's heart. Suo Mai summoned all the staff, personally denied the news that was circulating in the army, and told them that the army was likely to start a long-term battle with the Xiongnu, and said that anyone who violated the rumor of returning home was strictly prohibited, and anyone who violated it would be beheaded. And as if to confirm Suo Mai's declaration, a few days later, for several days, the soldiers of the army were forced to abandon agriculture and fight for war in order to defend against the fierce cavalry of the Huns who came to attack the city. Bows, arrows, knives and guns that have been put aside for a long time.Since then, the Huns have repeatedly invaded, and the soldiers have to fight while cultivating, and they are too busy; the rumors that the troops are returning to court, like the Qom River that retreated back then, quickly subsided, far away. went. In the summer of the third year, wheat and millet each had a harvest of a million stones.At this time, the fortification of the city was basically completed, so Suo Mai decided to hold a grand three-day ceremony on the poorly managed land.On the first day of the festival, a large number of barbarians, dressed in various costumes, came out of nowhere and gathered in the city to watch the excitement. During these three days, Suo Mai stood on the watchtower every night, side by side with the Yashai woman, watching the bustle of the city dotted with countless campfires.The woman asked Suo Mai, does holding such a big ceremony mean that the troops are about to leave the city?Seeing Suo Mai denying it with a smile, the woman still stared at his eyes and shook her head quietly.Suo Mai asked her why she did not believe his words.The woman answered that it wasn't that she didn't want to believe it, but that she couldn't believe in something like fate that even Suo Mai herself didn't know. And women's worries are not all unfounded, the fate that women can't believe and Suo Mai himself can't predict, finally happened to them after about half a year. Autumn was coming to an end, and after the farming season was over, Somai led half of his troops out of the city to attack the Xiongnu who were lurking in the northwest.I thought that no matter how long it took, I would not be able to return to the city after ten days. I didn't want the war to be unexpectedly protracted. It made it impossible for the troops to retreat immediately, so that they fell into a dilemma. The war that began at the end of autumn, under the situation of mutual victory and defeat.It dragged on until the beginning of the new year, and finally forced the Huns to flee back to the north.Compared with when they left for the expedition, Suo Mai and the soldiers were so thin and emaciated that they looked like two different people. They drove into the city gate on a snowy day.Although the soldiers were tired and thin, the camel troops still had the heads of several Hun generals stuck on the tip of their spears, and they entered the city with banners standing upright.There are snowflakes on the heads, humps and shoulders of the soldiers. Suo Mai entered the long-lost mansion.Glancing at the Asshai woman who was leaning against the door to greet him, he immediately noticed that her face was different from when she usually greeted him.The woman led Suo Mai directly from the door to the living room. Sitting in the living room was an envoy from the Han Dynasty. He had been waiting here for a month for Suo Mai's return.The envoy brought an order from the Han Dynasty, asking Suo Mai's troops to return to the court, and great honor and wealth awaited Suo Mai and his troops in the Han land of the motherland. At the beginning of July, when the tamarisks in the city are sprouting green shoots, the new Tuntian Army, which replaced the Somai Army, entered the city.Since deciding to return to the court, Suo Mai has been busy with clearing up the farmland and fighting small-scale battles with the Huns who come and go here from time to time, and has almost no time to think about the Yashai woman, but she seems to always be concerned about her own future.Is it possible to return to Hantu with Suo Mai?Even if it is possible, after arriving in Middle-earth, is it possible to continue to live together with Suomai like now?None of these questions could be answered by her little head.And whenever she mentions this point, Suo Mai always gives the same answer: "Of course I will take you with me!" Suo Mai is really going to take the woman away, but when he thinks of the long-lost Jiuquan and Liangzhou street scenes, he can't help but feel that putting a barbarian woman in it is always out of place. The hair, eyes, skin color, and even language of the Yaxia woman , Being here made him have some scruples, but he immediately got rid of this kind of thought from his mind, Suo Mai was not good at thinking at all, and at this moment, he had no intention of worrying about the future just for a little girl. The defending troops stationed in the city have twice the strength of Suomai's troops.After Suo Mai handed over everything to the young general who was about to replace him as the new ruler of the city, he continued to stay in the city for three days. One was reluctant to leave the land he single-handedly managed, and the other intentionally waited for the rain to pass. Sunny on the road again. On the day of the departure of the troops, the new Tuntian Army sent them off with 120,000 points of respect.After leaving the city gate, more than 200 residents from nearby tribes gathered here to say goodbye to Suo Mai.The long procession of camels, horses, and soldiers traversed the road of their own making that ran through the middle of the plowed fields.The sky is blue, and the breeze blows through the tops of poplar and tamarisk trees on both sides of the road, which is very cool. The road leads straight out from the city and joins the Coombe River almost at right angles.When he came to the riverside, Suo Mai found that it was the same as when he crossed the river. The swollen river in front of his eyes had expanded the original riverbed several times, and was rushing on and on. Suo Mai desperately wanted to cross the river, but since he had been sent out of the city in a solemn manner, he really didn't want to turn back to the city because the river was rising.Zhang and those military officers also thought the same way, and everyone agreed: how could the troops that once subdued the Qom River and became famous all over the world shrink back because of the rising water of the same river? "In my opinion, there is only one more battle with the river, and we have to force our way through." A subordinate expressed his opinion. Suo Mai decided to stop the troops for the night.It was still sunny during the day, but it started to rain in the middle of the night, and it was getting bigger and bigger.At dawn, Zhang came to Suomai's camp and stated his opinion. He believed that the heavy rain would make the river rise more and more. It is better to fight against the river, the sooner the better. Suo Mai left Zhang in the tent and walked out.The day has begun to light up.He stood on the bank of the river, letting the downpour of rain hit him.The water in the river was obviously much higher than yesterday.Somai stood there for a long, long time: he was seized by a certain idea: for him, a heart-pounding pain that he had never experienced was hitting him. Suo Mai returned to the tent, low-key, but decisively said to Zhang who was waiting there: "Take that woman as a living sacrifice and offer it to the river god." Zhang was startled, staring fixedly at Suo Mai's face.The so-called woman, in this army, there should be no one else except that Yashai woman.After a short period of silence, Zhang opened his mouth slowly. He first thanked Suo Mai for taking the initiative to make this decision, and said that he came here for this matter, but it was inconvenient to say it out.After saying this, Zhang immediately walked out of the tent. Not long after, a woman's scream of grief came from Somai's ears. It was the cry of a woman who had been dragged away from the neighboring tent next to Somai's camp. During the many bitter battles between the Xiongnu, the mournful neighing of wild birds heard when camping in the mountains was very similar. After daybreak, Somai gathered his troops to the river bank.Before I knew it, the rain had stopped.I don't know if it's because of the swallowing of the woman, the yellow and turbid river seems to have weakened, not only Suo Mai, but Zhang also seems to feel the same way. "If you want to cross the river, you have to take the time now. If you drag on, you will have no chance." Zhang urged Suo Mai to make up his mind. The troops then drove along the river bank to the downstream of how far away, and picked a place that seemed to have the weakest water potential as a crossing point.The whole team was divided into several groups, and the first group jumped into the flowing water first. In an instant, people and animals were rushed downstream. The large luggage that was thought to be tightly bound was separated from the horse's back. one floats on the water.Despite this, this group of soldiers finally reached the other side safely: Zhang said that the reason why they were able to cross the river without losing a single soldier was because they took women as living sacrifices. Although Suo Mai was silent, I also think so in my heart. Each group crossed the river one after another. Suo Mai joined the last group and rode his horse into the river. The water seemed to have receded a bit compared to the first wave of crossing. When he reached the opposite bank unharmed, he stopped. I couldn't help feeling grateful and sympathetic to the woman who had sacrificed her life. At the same time, on the other hand, I also felt a sense of relief that I had never thought about before. The troops started marching again, and Suo Mai and Zhang took the lead.Not long after the whole army set out, Zhang suddenly reined in his horse and shouted, "Look over there!" Suo Mai also reined in his horse and looked over.What he saw was on the far side of the plain, like yellow lava slowly expanding and approaching a large flow of flowing fluid.In a hurry, Suo Mai couldn't see what it was, but saw that the huge monster was moving slowly, surely, and full of weight, covering the plain all the way, and covering it here. "What is that?" Suo Mai shouted. Zhang and the surrounding soldiers couldn't figure out the true face of the huge Lushan Mountain, and everyone only knew to shout at each other: What, that is?What the hell is that? Suddenly someone shouted: "Flood, that's a flood!" After his reminder, the thick yellow thing that invaded the plain was really like water—a torrent, indeed, it couldn't be anything but a big torrent.The big torrent came all the way around the plain. "What should I do?" Someone asked from the side, but Suo Mai didn't know what to do in a hurry. "Anyway, let's run downstream first." Suo Mai shouted. However, no matter whether you fled left or right, it seemed that you could not escape the giant ghosts of the huge attacker after all; in order to avoid being engulfed by the flood, the only way out in front of you was to seek the downstream direction.The team composed of humans and animals suddenly became chaotic, and began to scramble to move.They crossed several sand dunes up and down, and ran from the center of the plain to the southeast. However, after a while, their journey was blocked and they were forced to stop. The flooded area began to expand little by little. The troops immediately changed their approach and fled to the northeast, but they were blocked by floods after a short distance.When the troops were about to change their course for the first time, Suo Mai saw a large torrent of loess, like a thick carpet, approaching a sand dune that was only two or three sand dunes away from where he was standing. "Everyone, run to the heights!" Before Suo Mai issued this order, the group of humans and animals had already pushed each other and rushed to a higher place, and every soldier had a desperate look that could not be seen even on the battlefield. energy. Suo Mai headed towards a sand dune, and crowds of people and animals gathered there like pieces of iron attracted by a magnet.Standing on the top of the sand dune, Suo Mai looked around the plain again, and saw that the torrential torrent had swallowed the flat land and small hills, and the vast wilderness had now turned into a sea of ​​mud, and the torrent of turbidity had already approached the sand dune where people and animals gathered. Count to the third dune. Soon, Suo Mai discovered an even more astonishing fact. Looking to the far northwest, the mud sea in that area seemed to be different from other places. To the part of the city wall and watchtower protruding from the water; no matter how far the distance is, no matter how small the image is, Suo Mai can't make a mistake. Those are the cities they lived in before yesterday, and they also built the city with their own hands. It seems that the cultivated land and houses are afraid. It has completely sunk into the bottom of the mud. At this time, Suo Mai thought, it won't be long before they will also be submerged in the torrent.In an instant, the night when I first met the Yashai girl, the legend about Longdu that she mentioned flashed in my mind, but it disappeared without a trace in just a flash, and what I was facing was a more serious situation.Suo Mai was very calm, and a strong anger boiled in him. He decided to launch an assault on the flood. He had no other way but to fight the flood and fight it out. Suo Mai immediately gave an order, and the soldiers obeyed this order, because everyone understood the critical situation in front of them. The drums of war were beating, and there was a roar of shouts.The troops were divided into two groups, led by Suo Mai and Zhang respectively.A team led by Zhang took the lead in rushing down the sand dunes for an assault. Camels, horses, and soldiers ran wildly together. They climbed up the sand dunes and then galloped down the sand dunes.However, in Suo Mai's eyes, this assault was obviously so weak.The people and horses and the turbidity shortened the distance between each other bit by bit.当两者的前端刚在一座沙丘脚下相接触，张某所率领的部队人马便倏的从索劢的视野里消失不见。 就在这同时，索劢冲着剩下的部队下令突击，面对平生第一次棋逢敌手的强敌，他一马当先地挥舞着长枪冲向河流，洪水天摇地动的怒吼，轰隆轰隆的遮盖了宇宙间的一切。 不一会儿，前头出现了刚刚吞下一座沙丘且乘势涌向这边而来的浊流的洪锋，数不尽的厉鬼于猖狂乱舞中眼看着逼近过来。索劢右手紧握长枪，高高的抡起在头顶上，连人带马撞向一丈多高的浊水之墙上。从索劢的影子消失不见，到紧随他背后的人畜陆陆续续地隐没水中，终至一个也不见，这中问并没有花费多少时问。 化成了一片汪洋泥海的沙漠之上，垂挂着混浊而脏污的天空，一轮血红的太阳，宛如日蚀时候那样，以一种异样的宁静，高挂在其中的一角。洪水仍在疯狂地咆哮着，没有片刻的休息，它还得继续吞噬尚未吞完的许多东西。