Chapter 1314: Going Astray

In the vast Gobi Desert, a large army was moving forward with difficulty. This was the expeditionary army led by Lan Yu.

The two guards at the rear were the Liaoyang Guard Cavalry led by Ping An and the Yanshan Left Guard led by Zhang Yu.

The two guards followed the rules of the rear guard and advanced in a goose formation to provide as much shelter as possible for the army in front of them.

On the left wing of the goose formation, Zhang Yu and a sergeant in ordinary clothes rode side by side. Strangely, Zhang Yu, the commander of the Yanshan Left Guard, was slightly behind the ordinary soldier on horseback. He was slightly leaning forward when he spoke, with a completely subordinate-to-superior attitude.

But none of the surrounding soldiers found it strange, because the black-faced sergeant was actually the Prince of Yan, to whom they were loyal...

"You said, Lao Liu should know the truth now, right?" Zhu Di fanned himself with his Mongolian hat. Although it was already mid-August, the Gobi Desert under the scorching sun was still scorching hot.

"It's been half a month, and they probably know it." Zhang Yu smiled bitterly, "I don't know if Brother Qiu Fu can withstand the wrath of the Sixth Prince."

"As long as he gives the letter to the Sixth Prince, there shouldn't be any problem...right?" Zhu Di himself was a little unsure. He knew that the Sixth Prince had the deepest feelings for him, and he would definitely find ways to help him get through.

But he also knew that he had committed a serious crime this time - he was on a heavy responsibility but left his post without permission, and even joined the army and went to the front line. If something went wrong, the consequences would be disastrous.

It is estimated that after returning, his father will peel off his skin.

"It's hard to say." Zhang Yu is a person who never speaks against his will, even to his own prince, he tells the truth: "This matter can't be passed lightly. The prince and I can't escape it."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Di said very openly: "It doesn't matter. What I was most worried about was that the sixth prince would suddenly send people to catch up and take me back. That would be a loss of both the wife and the army."

"The sixth prince's people haven't come yet, so they probably won't come." He smiled thankfully and said: "My sixth prince has really not changed, he still values ​​feelings the most, and won't let his fourth brother embarrass himself like that."

"Yes." Zhang Yu nodded and said: "The prince should also give less to the sixth prince. I'm causing trouble for you."

"Hey, Zhang Yu, you never know how to be polite when you speak." Zhu Di rolled his eyes at him and said seriously: "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who will act impulsively without considering the consequences. I thought it through before I set out. First of all, Lao Liu knows nothing about it and will definitely not suffer any consequences. Besides, my father will not be willing to punish him."

"Besides, Lao Liu will not be willing to punish me, only my father will. But my father pays the most attention to military exploits." Zhu Di said firmly: "As long as we can make great achievements this time, any unauthorized actions or leaving without saying goodbye will not be considered a big deal. They can all be written off!"

"That's right." Zhang Yu nodded, thinking that the emperor's son was so willful. But he didn't think about it. If he had any problems, what would we do?

With such a weird master, what else can we do? We can only leave it alone.

After calming down, Zhang Yu asked, "Can I talk to General Lan and the others now?"

"No." Zhu Di shook his head decisively and said, "Lan Yu and I don't get along. If he knew I was here, he would definitely send me back by force. Even if he didn't send me back, the Left Guard of Yanshan would have to stand aside."

Zhang Yu thought that even if he didn't know you were here, we would still have to stand aside. So he suggested, "Then at least let the King of Jin know? Otherwise, it would be too irresponsible."

"If the third brother knew, I don't know how to tease me!" Zhu Di shook his head at first, but after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "In a few days, you can quietly tell him so that he has an idea in his mind."

"Well, okay." Zhang Yu nodded and asked, "When exactly?"

"Wait until we get out of the desert." Zhu Di looked at the endless gravel on the ground in front of him, and felt a burst of heat, but he resisted touching the water bag hanging on the horse's back.

Because they hadn't found a water source for two days, and only this little life-saving fresh water was left.

"Do you feel something is wrong?" Zhu Di asked Zhang Yu.

"Yeah." Zhang Yu nodded and said, "It seems that the superiors are not well prepared. It is said that you can bring less dry food in the desert, but you must bring more water bags, and fill them up as much as possible when passing by a water source. But we didn't make any special preparations, and we will be out of water in another day."

"I don't know what Lan Yu did?!" Zhu Di cursed angrily. But before revealing his identity, he could only complain a few words, which was useless...

~~

At this time, the expeditionary army had entered the Gobi Desert for several days.

They set out from Qingzhou, bypassed the foothills of Qingyun Mountain, and traveled north for several days. The endless green grassland in front of them was gradually replaced by gray-white gravel, and the grass and trees became sparser and sparser. Only some drought-resistant shrubs and red willows were left, still growing tenaciously in clusters in the east and west.

Therefore, the horses spent more and more time foraging every day, and the marching speed also slowed down again and again, and they could not travel more than 50 miles a day.

"What's going on?!" Lan Yu was also confused, and asked Guan Tong, who was leading the way, to ask: "Didn't they say that there would be no shortage of water along the way? How come we can't see a water source after walking for so long?"

Guan Tong licked his cracked lips and said: "I'm also wondering, it's said that this Gobi Desert is not short of water. Walking north along the Youhun South Road, there are many small lakes, water bubbles and sand springs on the road, how come there is no water source?"

After a pause, he asked: "General, are you sure we should keep going due north?"

"Is there any truth?" Lan Yu took out his compass and showed it to Guantong: "Here, true north!"

"That's strange." Guantong said puzzledly: "Why do I always feel that we are walking northwest?"

"Put me down, can your feelings be as accurate as a compass?" Lan Yu said disapprovingly.

"General, I feel the same way." At this time, Liu Xiang, who was accompanying the army, also spoke. He pointed to the shadow on the ground and said, "How about we measure it?"

Liu Xiang was the first scientific scholar in the eighteenth year of Hongwu. After that, he joined the Ministry of War and served as the chief of the Staff Department. The Ministry of War is in charge of maps, patrols and drills, and when it goes out with the army, it provides rewards and punishments, adjusts soldiers' food, and records their merits and demerits... It is the Ministry of War that supervises the army as mentioned before.

It is said that Lan Yu hates the supervisor, but Liu Xiang is different. He is Zhu Zhen's brother-in-law, and he has real talents and learning, so Lan Yu keeps him by his side and values ​​his words very much.

"Yes." Lan Yu nodded. In fact, he was also muttering in his heart, but the compass never missed, so he always thought that his feeling was wrong.

So Liu Xiang found a wooden stick more than three feet long and inserted it vertically into the ground. Under the sunlight, the stick cast a long shadow on the ground. Then he placed a stone at the end of the shadow.

After everyone waited for a while, they saw the shadow of the sun gradually moving westward, and Liu Xiang marked the end of the nearest shadow with a stone.

Then he stepped on the first stone with his left foot and the second stone with his right foot. The direction he was facing at this time was true north.

Look at the pointer on the north compass again, but it is slightly tilted to the west by nearly ten degrees...