But after waiting for a long time, they found that there was only this one explosion.
This was clearly an ambush, the work of the rebels. They planted explosives on the road and then covered them with sand so that they wouldn't explode if someone walked on them.
When a vehicle runs over it, the explosive device will be triggered. Once the vehicle leaves, the device on the explosive will activate, causing an explosion.
This explosive device is somewhat like a modern landmine; when a person steps on it and lifts their foot, the landmine explodes.
It seems Lanwei has a master at work; he was able to design this explosive device specifically to attack passing vehicles.
This also shows that the rebels already knew that the imperial court had sent troops to quell the rebellion, and since they could not confront the imperial army head-on, they had no choice but to resort to this method of attack.
Huo Pingxi was a veteran general who had been through many battles. It was not uncommon for him to be ambushed during his march. He was leading a large army to the desert to quell a rebellion, so he could not give up halfway after encountering a little setback.
We're halfway there now; if we persevere for another hour or two, we'll be out of the desert.
The large group continued forward, but after a short while, the vehicle at the front got stuck again.
This time, Huo Pingxi was smarter. He decided to abandon the grain wagon and let the main force continue on its way.
During the rest of the journey, the vehicle kept getting stuck in sand pits on the road, and Huo Pingxi had no choice but to grit his teeth and give up.
Thus, before the army even left the desert, it had already lost a considerable portion of its provisions.
Huo Pingxi realized that the rebels could not have buried so many explosives along the way; this place must be a mix of real and fake, and some of the pits might be empty.
Even so, Huo Pingxi dared not let anyone push the grain carts out of the pit, because if there were explosives in the pit, he would suffer heavy losses.
Thus, they continued marching, abandoning their supply wagons as they went, and by the time they emerged from the desert, they had lost most of their supply wagons.
Huo Pingxi tallied the amount of grain and fodder, which was only enough to sustain the army for ten days.
Fortunately, the army had already left the desert. The only loss was of food and supplies; the personnel were not greatly damaged, and the army's strength remained intact.
Huo Pingxi knew that Lan Weihuang Liang's forces numbered only three thousand men, and this rabble was no match for the imperial army.
Moreover, Lanwei City has no city walls around it, just like a market town in the Central Plains. You can enter the city from any direction. It would not be difficult for my army to flatten Lanwei.
Once Huang Liang's forces are eliminated, we will receive some supplies and can then head to Louye to quell the rebellion.
As dusk approached, with over a hundred li to go before Lanwei City, Huo Pingxi ordered his soldiers to set up camp and continue their march the next day.
Just as the camp was set up, the soldiers spotted a convoy approaching in the distance, consisting of about twenty or thirty oxcarts, which were probably carrying fodder.
This is a convoy transporting hay, probably heading to Lanwei. Transporting so much hay at once could only be the work of the rebels.
The coachman seemed unaware of the military camp and continued driving forward.
Perhaps it was because of the darkness that they couldn't see the military camp clearly. As they got closer, the drivers realized that there were a large number of troops stationed nearby, and they were taken aback. They quickly sped up, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
How could Huo Pingxi let this caravan slip away? He led his soldiers to swarm forward and completely surrounded the twenty or thirty oxcarts and their drivers.
Only then did the soldiers realize that these coachmen were all elderly people. They were slow-moving and had poor eyesight, so they had not noticed the large group of troops stationed there in time.
The old man driving the cart had no choice but to stop when he saw that they were surrounded, and he looked very frightened.
Upon inquiry, it was confirmed that these old men were indeed transporting fodder for the rebels. In order to fight against the imperial court, Huang Liang purchased a large number of warhorses and trained them day and night.
Not only that, Huang Liang also replenished his troops by conscripting able-bodied men. Now, the entire city of Lanwei is a soldier, and some people who are unwilling to fight have fled.
Because the horses in the city needed a lot of fodder every day, Huang Liang had these old men transport the fodder to ensure the horses' daily supply.
The soldiers were most concerned about how many men Huang Liang had, so they continued to ask.
The old man told the soldiers that Huang Liang originally only had more than 3,000 men, but during this period of conscription, his forces have now reached 5,000.
Huo Pingxi nodded. Lan Wei's situation was about what he had expected. Although the rebels had 5,000 men, some of them were conscripted men. These men would not fight for Huang Liang and would only desert once they were on the battlefield.
The truly combat-effective force was still his original three thousand men.
With 15,000 elite troops and 3,000 well-trained archers, eliminating this rabble would not be difficult.
Perhaps Huo Pingxi underestimated the enemy and believed the old men's words. He had the fodder inspected and found nothing unusual, so he ordered the twenty or thirty carts of fodder to be brought into the military camp.
These old men were also imprisoned, with the plan to release them after the rebellion was quelled.
Next, they began to cook, and while the soldiers ate, they didn't forget to serve some food to the twenty or thirty old men.
The old men were indeed hungry; they wolfed down their food while expressing their gratitude.
The nights in the desert are extremely cold. Apart from a few patrolling soldiers, the rest of the soldiers went into the camp, which would both keep them warm and allow them to rest properly.
The soldiers had exhausted themselves crossing the desert during the day, and they still had over a hundred miles to go tomorrow, so they needed to get a good rest tonight.
It was past midnight, and everyone except the soldiers patrolling the perimeter of the camp had fallen asleep.
The captured fodder was left quietly in the military camp, attracting no attention from anyone.
Gradually, the hay in several carts started to move, and soon people crawled out of the hay.
A short while later, more than twenty people got off the hay carts and quickly gathered together.
It was a dark and windy night, and no one noticed that so many people had suddenly crawled out of the hay cart.
They didn't say much after getting off the bus, they just nodded to each other.
They lit the flammable materials they carried, threw them at the hay cart, and then quickly dispersed.
These people did not leave immediately, but instead moved between the tents and threw fire into them.
These tents were all made of cloth and would catch fire easily.
The cold wind in the desert grew stronger and stronger, and the fodder on the oxcart burned the brightest.
The hay on the cart caught fire and burst into flames more than ten feet high, illuminating the entire military camp as bright as day.
The fire that started from the hay cart ignited several nearby tents, and the soldiers inside were the first to be awakened.
The patrolling soldiers were only on the perimeter of the camp, focusing on the situation outside to prevent any sneak attacks. Little did they know that someone inside the camp had set a fire.
By the time they discovered it, a fire had already broken out in the military camp, and they began shouting for help to put out the fire.
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