After the rain, the sky was clear, and the road was still muddy and difficult to walk. On the mountain road in Pinggang, teams of Han cavalry were slowly moving, and many cavalry led their war horses forward on foot, and the marching speed was extremely slow.

The heavy rain two days ago failed to stop them from chasing. On the third day, the sky cleared, but it didn't expect that it would rain again that night, until dawn. I thought it wouldn't rain again, but I didn't expect that it would rain again, but I didn't expect that there would be anything I was afraid of. On the fourth day, it was strong winds and heavy rain again. This was the third heavy rain in the four days.

On the fifth day, after dawn, it was raining again. The Han army, who were walking and stopping, embarking on the journey again, chasing them all the way along the direction of the barbarian army's escape.

Although the weather was not good, after five days, the Han cavalry clenched the defeated barbarians and pursued them for more than 500 miles, and did not give up the pursuit until now.

However, today's marching speed is indeed too slow. The roads are slippery and muddy, but it is not the most important aspect of the speed. What really restricts the pursuit speed of the Han army is that they have been out of food for two days. In other words, since the third night, they have been hungry and have been holding on for two days.

The two days of march on an empty stomach have exhausted all the strength of the soldiers. Today is the third day, and the soldiers can't hold on. They march in the rain for five consecutive days, cold, hungry and tired. Even the iron-clad men are exhausted. Now they are like this, physically and mentally exhausted, hungry and unable to walk anymore.

Compared with the cavalry, their war horses were also exhausted. Although they were not suffering from hunger, the muddy roads made the war horses very difficult, and they slipped one step and each step was very difficult.

"Zilong, I can't chase you anymore. Find a suitable camp in front of you and rest on the spot." At the front of the marching team, Gongsun Zan, with a tired face, stood on the side of the road. He looked at the soldiers walking through the front weakly, sighed helplessly.

Zhao Yun stopped his horse and stopped beside Gongsun Zan. He was worried about the scene in front of him, but he couldn't find a solution to the difficulties.

After hearing Gongsun Zan's words, Zhao Yun did not blindly agree. Instead, he became more and more worried. He whispered: "Just just came to report that the scout came to report. After crossing this mountain, the Xianbei royal court was less than a hundred miles away. Half an hour ago, after the defeated Tadun army stayed in the Xianbei court for a while, he had led tens of thousands of remaining troops to the east, and it seemed to be going to their old nest Liucheng. At this time, it would be too dangerous for our army to camp here. The Xianbei people already knew that our army was following Tadun and would send a large number of scouts to stare at us at all times. Once the Xianbei people knew that our army had been out of food for many days, they would definitely go out to rob and kill our army; if this is the case, we might be wiped out at any time."

Gongsun Zan was depressed when he heard this, and looked melancholy and sighed in a low voice: "I don't know what Zilong said! But you have seen all the situation in front of you. The soldiers were hungry and tired, and had no combat power at all. What if they catch up with the remaining Tadun army, wouldn't they die in vain? In other words, even if our army continues to advance, if the Xianbei cavalry suddenly attacked when they passed by the Xianbei royal court, then we wouldn't have even retreated and still wouldn't escape the bad luck of the entire army being wiped out.

So, at the moment, I have no choice but to rely on the mountain road pass in front to build a defensive formation to resist the possible attacks by the Xianbei people and temporarily station here. The mountain is quite high, easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the area of ​​this forest is not small. It is considered an ideal place for garrisons. Youdao is to rely on the mountains to eat the mountains. When our troops temporarily garrison here, we can go up the mountain to hunt or dig some wild vegetables to satisfy our hunger. When the soldiers recover, they will have the ability to protect themselves. At that time, we can take the initiative to attack and defeat the Xianbei royal court. This is also a great achievement, and it is not in vain for us to pursue in the rain. This is the safest way I can think of. I wonder what Zilong wants?" Gongsun Zan said this very pertinently, and it is obviously the result of careful consideration.

After hearing this, Zhao Yun was silent for a while, repeatedly weighed the pros and cons, but could not think of a better way, so he nodded in agreement. The reason why he was hesitant was not that Gongsun Zan had a bad strategy, but that the 30,000 iron cavalry they led had no other defensive weapons except bows and arrows and carry-on weapons. The most important thing was that these soldiers were all cavalry and were not good at defending themselves, and fighting cavalry was their strength. Now, they had to dismount as infantrymen, avoiding their strengths and weaknesses, which was really frustrating. However, all this was forced by the situation and they had to do so, otherwise the entire army would be wiped out.

Two hours later, 30,000 troops stationed in the mountains and forests. More than ten camps were built roughly, and the rest were all straw sheds, which were very simple, but finally there was a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Fortunately, it was the rainy season now, with a lot of rain and green trees. There was no need to worry about the Xianbei people using fire attacks in the short term.

Fortunately, the Xianbei people dozens of miles away did not send troops to attack while the Han army was camping. Until the evening, the defense construction of the Shandao Pass was completed, the Xianbei people still had no movement and showed no sign of sending troops. This made Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun and others who had been anxious breathe a sigh of relief, and finally could safely eat the first hot meal in five days - wild vegetable and mushroom soup.

When I went up the mountain to pick wild vegetables in the afternoon, many soldiers were familiar with them. After all, they were all from poverty and had digged wild vegetables since they were young. However, they were afraid of the mushrooms that could be seen everywhere in the mountains and forests. Looking at the fresh and attractive mushrooms, no one dared to pick them, and even the wild vegetables grown beside the mushrooms did not dare to dig.

When the first batch of soldiers who dug wild vegetables came back, Zhao Yun was surprised to see that none of them picked mushrooms, all of which were green and green. Because the mushrooms grew particularly vigorously after the rain in summer, were they not even mushrooms growing in the mountains near the Xianbei royal court?

After asking the soldiers, Zhao Yun laughed silently. It turned out that there were not no mushrooms in the woods. On the contrary, the forest was full of mushrooms, and even the number of mushrooms was far more than wild vegetables. Unfortunately, the soldiers did not dare to pick them, because when they were young, they had seen many people pick mushrooms, poisoning the whole family to death. Since then, many people would rather starve than pick mushrooms after the rain. They were really afraid of the ropes by being bitten by snakes for ten years, and were afraid of the fresh and tender mushrooms.

After learning the whole story, Zhao Yun personally led the team up the mountain and pointed out that the mushrooms could be picked one by one. Speaking of which, it is not that no one eats mushrooms nowadays. Some people are familiar with the toxicity of various mushrooms and know that many of the colorful mushrooms can be eaten. However, the cost of identifying various mushrooms is too high, and it is definitely not something that can be identified with a silver needle. In addition, some people cherish their own treasures and will not easily tell others what they know, which invisibly increases the difficulty of identifying mushrooms, making many people feel like they see a poisonous snake, even more fearful than seeing a poisonous snake.

A few years ago, Zhao Yun was the same, and he didn't dare to eat mushrooms at all. However, after following Li Li for so many years, he learned a lot inadvertently, such as identifying edible mushrooms. Today, Zhao Yun cannot remember the names of various mushrooms, but he can recognize the real thing and know the simplest and most common sense. That is, mushrooms are like poisonous snakes. The brighter the color, the more colorful the color, the more beautiful the toxic, and the more inedible it is inedible. In contrast, mushrooms with relatively single and inconspicuous colors are mostly edible. The most common are red umbrella-shaped oak mushrooms, yellow trumpet-shaped clump mushrooms, and larger gray mushrooms; as the name implies, these mushrooms mostly grow in the corresponding bushes.

The fresh mushrooms you pick should be eaten before eating, that is, wash them in boiling water to remove the toxicity (mostly so for safe reasons), and then add other ingredients to cook and soup. The taste is extremely delicious and lingering.

In this way, the hungry soldiers ate the most delicious wild vegetable mushroom soup that could remember for life. The first one was Zhao Yun. Many soldiers, including Gongsun Zan, were salivating when they smelled the fragrance of the vegetable soup, but they did not dare to put their mouths. Until they watched Zhao Yun eat a jar of voraciously, they had no trouble after a while. At this point, everyone finally confirmed that the mushroom soup in the cauldron could be eaten. So, the first batch of cooked mushroom soup was completely drunk in a blink of an eye. On average, less than one person could eat, and it was useless at all.

Then from afternoon to late at night, nearly a hundred cauldrons were cooking wild vegetables and mushroom soup over and over again. Each cauldron was added with a hare or pheasant, and then mushrooms and wild vegetables. Rabbit meat and pheasants should not be expected to eat meat, but the "base" of mushroom soup. Adding some meat can be considered to replenish the soldiers' bodies. So, the meat was cooked and it was also in the pot. Thirty thousand soldiers, Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun and more than a hundred generals all ate in the same pot, treating everyone equally. Many soldiers in Youzhou were moved by this, and some soldiers were even excited to cry because they had never received such treatment before. Even in the war, the food they ate could not be the same as the generals. However, the soldiers of Xiliang had long been accustomed to this. Not only did the main general Zhao Yun share the joys and sorrows with them, but even the head coach Li Li often had meals with the soldiers.

Therefore, this unexpected encounter of food cuts, a pot of mushroom soup turned bad things into good things, which invisibly brought the generals closer to 30,000 soldiers, prompting the soldiers to gather together. More than 30,000 people were united. After they recovered, their combat effectiveness could be imagined.

Difficulties are only temporary, and there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome. This sentence is undoubtedly more accurate when applied to the 30,000 troops led by Gongsun Zan and Zhao Yun, who were alone in the army. On the night when they were forced to camp in the mountains and forests, the 10,000 cavalry of Xu Huang, who were ordered to help them, finally caught up.

—————To be continued—————————————————

ps:

[Hu Ben sincerely thanks: Book friend Pulandian takes a break from his busy schedule, ldjzhh, pijzhul, zb177, Yier 849 book friend's monthly ticket support, thanks to lcj700319 book friend's evaluation ticket support, thank you!]
Chapter completed!