Daqin Engineering Corps

Shen Bing did not dare to bring more troops.

Because of the problem of insufficient supplies, the strength and time are directly and negatively proportional: the more troops you bring, the shorter the time Suzhou has.

Then Shen Bing ordered [-] sheep and set off with some food.

Along the way, the soldiers go first and the sheep follow.

But the marching speed was not fast. After advancing a hundred miles a day, they stopped, and then set up camp for training.

The training was not for riding and fighting, but for the two thousand Shenwu army led by Wang Ben to march in the mountains mixed with the mountain army going to Liqing.

Wang Ben was a little strange at the beginning, because every time he trained, he had no purpose. He went into the mountain area for half an hour and then returned the same way.

But after thinking about it, I quickly understood:

"The general is going to fight the Yue clan, I'm afraid he will use the two thousand Shenwu troops and the one thousand Li troops as surprise troops."

But Wang Ben frowned again:

"The Yuezhi has [-] troops, and the Xiongnu have another [-]."

"Even if the Qin army used [-] odd troops to go around the mountain and go around to the Yuezhi side, how effective would it be?"

Chapter 392 Fried Noodles

This is a kind of cramming training.

There is no way, because Suzhou can't wait...Suzhou only has two months of food and grass, and when Shen Bing's mountain army is trained properly, Suzhou's food and grass are almost gone.

However, Shen Bing didn't need to train them too perfectly. In fact, it was enough to complete the task of crossing the mountains by mixing the Li army and the Shenwu army.

The advantage of the Xiangli army is the ability to march in the mountains and survivability, and the disadvantage is the lack of organization, discipline and combat effectiveness.

The Shenwu army is almost the opposite of the Li army. Its advantages are the shortcomings of the Li army, and its disadvantages are the advantages of the Li army.

So the two armies can perfectly complement each other.

Shen Bing does not need how well organized and disciplined the Xiangli Army is, nor does it need how strong its combat effectiveness is.

At least for now.

What Shen Bing wanted was for the Xiangli Army to take the Shenwu Army out in the mountains they were familiar with, or to help the Shenwu Army survive and increase their speed through the mountains.

The next battle will be left to the Shenwu Army.

So Shen Bing asked Liqing:

"With 1000 soldiers from the Xiangli Army and 2000 soldiers from the Shenwu Army, one with two, will they be able to pass through Qilian Mountain?"

Xiang Liqing asked back:

"Qilian Mountain?"

Shen Bing raised his head towards Qi Lianshan behind him, and then went to Liqing to understand.

"Snow Mountain!" Xiang Liqing said, "We call it Snow Mountain!"

Shen Bing guessed that this was because of the perennial snow accumulation on the peaks of Qilian Mountain.

Xiang Liqing then asked:

"Where does the general want me to pass through?"

Shen Bing opened the map and drew a route on it, asking:

"If you go like this, how many days will it take?"

Looking at Li Qing, he shook his head and said:

"I can't wait to pass through."

Shen Bing was startled and asked:

"Why?"

Xiang Liqing replied:

"The mountains here are high and the roads are dangerous. We can only climb rocks with cables and arrows."

Shen Bing said:

"Then why do you say it can't pass?"

Shen Bing's idea is: Xiang Lijun was originally good at mountain climbing, and now he is equipped with cable arrows, so in principle he can pass through any mountainous area.

If they could pass through any mountainous area, wouldn't the Shenwu Army also be able to pass as long as they lowered the rope or rope ladder?

Xiang Liqing explained:

"If you can only climb through rocks, then horses and sheep will definitely not be able to pass through."

"If the horses and flocks cannot pass, then we can only carry supplies with us."

"In addition to supplies, we also need to carry equipment. The Shenwu Army also needs to wear armor. In addition, we also need to bring climbing equipment and cooking utensils..."

"In this way, being able to march in the mountains for about four days is the limit."

"And this mountain road will take at least six days."

When Xiang Liqing said this, Shen Bing understood.

This is indeed a difficulty, and it is not a problem that can be solved by bringing more supplies.

Because bringing more supplies means that you can't climb mountains or slow down your speed, and slowing down your speed means you need more supplies, so the weight of the supplies will increase infinitely...

One of the ways is to reduce the weight of equipment and bring more food, such as no armor and less arrows.

But it doesn't make much sense to do so.

On the one hand, the rattan armor equipped by the Shenwu Army itself is not heavy.

On the other hand, if the Shenwu Army weakens its equipment to this level, it means that its combat effectiveness will decline exponentially... The rattan armor can be said to be an artifact against nomads. Most nomads play with bows and arrows, and they shoot very fast. It is accurate, but the rattan armor is "professional bow and arrow protection".

If he didn't wear rattan armor, Shen Bing wasn't sure how useful the two thousand martial arts troops would be.

After thinking about it, Shen Bing asked:

"If the four-day food festival is shortened to six days..."

Xiang Liqing shook his head and denied Shen Bing's idea:

"These four days are already the weight of the dry food Ricci carried in the past."

"If it is based on the food of the Shenwu Army..."

Shen Bing's heart moved:

"Dry food?"

Xiang Liqing nodded:

"I will roast the mutton and then dry it in the sun. I will use it as dry food when marching in the mountains."

"However, in the past, Li Shi could live on a very small amount of dry food. I'm afraid that the Shenwu Army will need more..."

That's right, the Shenwu Army was used to eating big bowls of meat, and suddenly he could only eat a few slices of jerky for a meal, I'm afraid he couldn't bear it.

Shen Bing said:

"If the Shenwu Army also carries dry food, they don't need to count the cooking utensils. Can we bring more food?"

Xiang Liqing nodded:

"It may be possible to march for five days."

Shen Bing answered with confidence:

"This matter is on me. The dry food I carry is enough for seven days, and it is not too heavy."

Xiang Liqing was curious for a while, where would there be such dry food that is not heavy and can last for so many days?

That night, Shen Bing asked someone to bring a few sheep, butchered them and boiled them with fat.

Then add flour to the oil and stir-fry, and sprinkle some chopped oil residue and salt on it while stirring...

It was supposed to be sugared.

But firstly, there is no sugar in this era, and secondly, salt needs to be supplemented for marching and combat, so Shen Bing thinks it is more appropriate to add salt.

Shen Bing patiently stir-fried it back and forth over low heat, and soon a pot of fragrant fried noodles was completed.

Wang Ben wondered:

"General, I only know that this flour can be used to make noodles or dumplings, but I don't think it can be eaten like this?"

Xiang Liqing smelled the fragrance and was so greedy that he salivated, and asked Shen Bing:

"General, can I try the taste..."

Shen Bing reminded:

"Of course, it's just this thing..."

Before he finished speaking, he saw Wang Ben and a few soldiers grabbing it with their chopsticks, but just as they put it in their mouths, they were so hot that they yelled "Wow", and tears rolled out instantly.

Wang Ben sniffed and wiped his tears while asking:

"General, it's just this thing..."

Shen Bing shook his head:

"It's just that this thing is fried in boiling oil. It looks like there is no smoke or gas, but the temperature is extremely high."

"It needs to be cooled before eating!"

The surrounding soldiers "coaxed" a burst of laughter, only Wang Ben and a few people who were scalded for grabbing food put on a bitter face.

Finally let it cool down.

Xiang Liqing clumsily took a pinch with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, then nodded repeatedly:

"Delicious, but I have never eaten this thing."

Shen Bing couldn't help laughing, what Xiangliqing and those members of the Xiangli clan ate was either goat milk or mutton, or a different kind of milk for a different kind of meat, there were many things they hadn't eaten before.

Wang Ben and the soldiers each took some to try, and nodded in praise after eating.

Wang Ben commented:

"Although this thing is delicious, it is a little dry."

Shen Bing nodded and said:

"So it's not advisable to eat too much at ordinary times, but it's very convenient as dry food for marching!"

Xiang Liqing said "Oh" and understood.

The chow mein is really not a tasty delicacy.

But its advantages are easy to carry, easy to eat and strong satiety.

When the Volunteers marched and fought, they used fried noodles as their staple food... A handful of fried noodles is enough to eat snow, and you can even eat it while marching.

At this time, it was just the right time for Shen Bing to use it as dry food for the Shenwu Army to pass through the mountains.

Chapter 393 The Unicycle

With fried noodles, the food problem is solved.

If anything, it's dry food bags.

Originally, Shen Bing also wanted to make a long cylindrical dry food bag out of cloth and tie it on his back like the volunteer army did.

But the cloth of this era is coarse cloth spun from ramie, and the gaps between the silk threads are large, and fried noodles can easily seep out of them.

Therefore, Shen Bing could only use sheepskin skin bags... Lishi often used this kind of skin bags to hold water, and it was not difficult to get them together or even make them out of sheepskin on the spot.

During the march, Shen Bing asked Shenwujun and Xiang Lishi to learn how to make and eat fried noodles.

This is mainly to allow their stomachs to get used to the fried noodles, otherwise it would be bad to have stomach upset or discomfort when it comes time to fight.