I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 72 The Sea Demon Wind
Ma Hongshan suddenly had a bad feeling about this trip to Chulechuan.

He was perfectly fine the day he left the base.

Although the spring chill was still in the air, the weather was still fine and sunny.

But on the third day of the march, when they were setting up camp at night, a strong wind suddenly blew up.

At the foot of Yinshan Mountain, strong winds in spring are not uncommon; it happens every year.

Ma Hongshan was a veteran soldier, and naturally, he followed the rules of the military when marching and setting up camp.

A march of more than two thousand men is not as simple as a dozen or twenty people.

Especially in the harsh and cold Northwest.

With so many troops marching, they had to proceed along the river.

His cavalry, numbering over two thousand, consisted of one horse per person, totaling over two thousand warhorses.

The entire brigade also had 500 spare warhorses accompanying them.

This was because the combat distance was not far, so they didn't bring that many spare horses.

For long-distance marches of more than 500 kilometers, at least one person needs two horses to maintain speed.

These are just the warhorses; there are two thousand six or seven hundred in the entire force.

Moreover, warhorses cannot carry too heavy supplies.

Therefore, it is also necessary to have horses to pull the cart.

A two-horse-drawn wooden cart could only carry less than two thousand kilograms of supplies on a long march.

This includes the rations for the soldiers and the hay and beans for the warhorses.

A soldier needs to eat three to five kilograms of dry rations a day.

That's an understatement.

A warhorse needs to eat 30 catties of hay and 5 or 6 catties of beans a day.

Even at the lowest possible cost, a cavalryman, with one horse and one rider, would need to consume forty catties of fodder per day.

The supplies carried on a large cart are at most enough for ten cavalrymen for five days.

No more than ten days.

This doesn't even include the cost of the two draft horses pulling the cart.

Therefore, the entire cavalry brigade had more than 400 two-horse wagons.

There were three thousand four or five hundred horses, including warhorses and draft horses.

A horse needs to drink 30 to 60 catties of water a day.

How much water do more than three thousand horses drink in a day?

It's practically impossible to bring all that water yourself.

They can only rely on rivers for supplies.

If there are no rivers, the only way to march is at the nearest point between two rivers.

This was to ensure the drinking water needs of the soldiers and warhorses.

On the third night...

After Ma Hongshan's cavalry brigade finished replenishing their drinking water at the riverbank...

We set up camp in a sheltered spot.

But no one expected that a strong sea breeze would suddenly blow that night.

This time, the strong winds at sea were more than just powerful.

Moreover, the direction is uncertain.

The sheltered spot that Ma Hongshan and his group chose couldn't block the strong wind at all.

The wind blows from all directions, and no one knows where the next strong gust will come from.

This is because the cold air from the north has not completely retreated.

Warm air from the south moves northward, and the complex terrain of the Yinshan Mountains further disrupts the process.

This created such a chaotic wind.

Locals call it a whirlwind, a backflow wind, or a noisy sea breeze.

The strong winds blew all night until dawn.

When it's fully light and the wind has subsided a bit.

Ma Hongshan only found out then.

In the six or seven large cart formations, many carts were overturned by the wind.

Four or five hundred horses, startled by the wind, broke free of their reins from the hitching posts and ran out through the gap in the wagon formation.

The strong winds were so strong that people could barely stand, and the tents were blown down.

Every cavalryman was thinking of quickly getting back on his horse.

Only those coachmen could keep a few horses under control.

After the final inventory and clearing of the losses are completed.

Ma Hongshan discovered that they had lost more than 600 horses, and more than a dozen people had died and more than 30 people had been injured.

Some of these injuries were caused by stones blown up by the strong wind.

Some were injured by the ravaged horses. And those who died were almost all trampled to death by the horses.

Faced with this situation, Ma Hongshan also wondered if he should go back now.

After all, we've only been out for three days and we've already encountered this kind of sea monster wind that we don't see for several years.

It can be said that this was an inauspicious start, not a good omen.

But after thinking it over, he decided to move on.

If you've been out for three days and then get scared back by a gust of wind, that's not a good thing.

Although in Ningma, everyone is related by blood.

If you do the math, they're either cousins ​​or distant relatives.

Even so, the internal struggles have never ceased.

This time, I've been given an opportunity to easily make a contribution.

There were quite a few people who gossiped about it afterward.

If I go back this time.

Then how can I continue to hold this position as cavalry brigade commander?

All others need to say is, "A cowardly fellow who was scared away by a gust of wind still has the nerve to sit in the brigade commander's position."

I wonder how thick-skinned that person is.

Then I really can't keep my job as brigade commander.

Ma Hongshan then ordered them to continue advancing.

Those carts that weren't pulled by horses were all pulled by warhorses.

But what Ma Hongshan didn't know was...

His current situation is clearly visible to several people lying on a hillside more than ten kilometers away.

At a distance of more than ten kilometers, even through a telescope, one cannot clearly see a person's face.

However, it was possible to clearly see the movement of the main force and the direction they were heading.

"Hehe, it seems that last night's strong winds haven't made this Ningma military leader give up yet."

Since you're here, don't go back.

The reconnaissance squad leader, his words carrying a chilling aura, muttered to himself.

"Stone, you and Erhu take all the warhorses we've collected back with you."

Those were all fine horses sent to us by this general, and they were stamped with his seal.

If you return these twenty-odd horses, Commander Yang will definitely be happy and praise you.

Go back and tell Commander Yang.

There are at least two or three thousand people who came to Ningma this time.

If our cavalry regiment wipes them out, then our regimental commander won't have to envy Regimental Commander Chen every day.

Go for it. "

"It's the class monitor."

Stone and Erhu retreated backwards down the hillside.

Only when the hilltop could block his view did he turn around and start running towards a small valley.

That was their temporary base.

The two men rode horses, accompanied by more than twenty warhorses branded with the Ningma Cavalry Regiment's insignia on their rumps.

They slowed down and jogged away into the distance.

They can't run fast; if many warhorses run together at high speed, the dust will be very high.

They might be spotted by enemy skirmishers from a great distance.

The reconnaissance squad leader then said to the remaining men beside him, "Let's go too, and wait for them ahead."

With so many people, they cannot live without the river.

We'll go to the next place to cross the river and wait for them on the other side.

Be sure to remove any traces.

"Yes, squad leader."

The remaining seven or eight people, led by their class monitor, kept retreating.

They also kept cleaning up the marks they left behind with dry branches.

The cleaned areas will soon be wiped clean by the spring winds, leaving no trace of anyone having been there.

Ma Hongshan was very cautious.

Even under the current circumstances, he sent out his reconnaissance troops five kilometers away for surveillance.

But deep down, he really hadn't expected it.

Those peasants would extend their reconnaissance to right under their noses.

I've only been out for two or three days, and I've already been targeted.

(End of this chapter)