After they settled on the broad strategy, the army prepared to march.
Zhao Feng appointed a deputy general under Qin Zhongwu as temporary custodian of the grassland field headquarters, leaving him with ten thousand troops to hold the grasslands with assistance from Ha Dan, Ba Tu's chief adviser.
The grasslands had only just been pacified and needed a garrison, which would naturally also serve to keep watch over the tribes.
He did not have Lin Ziwei and Fourth Madam accompany the expedition either, instead leaving them behind to coordinate matters in the rear.
The order to break camp came at six in the morning on the third day.
Zhao Feng stood atop the barbican at Zhamuer City's west gate, the morning wind blowing into his face as he gazed into the distance.
On the grasslands beyond the gate, a vast army was spreading out like a black tide sweeping across the gray-yellow pasture, slowly surging toward the western horizon.
Helan Tie's cavalry set out first, their hoofbeats rolling through the morning stillness like an unending rumble of distant thunder.
Qin Zhongwu's fifty thousand infantry followed close behind. Their heavy armor gleamed iron-gray in the morning light, while shields and long spears knocked together intermittently within the ranks, producing faint, steady clinks. Most conspicuous of all were the Martial Suppression Guards, wearing great cloaks over their iron armor.
Ba Tu's scout battalion had departed an hour earlier. Though they lived on the grasslands, many of the scouts came from the Western Regions and knew the Northern Desert fairly well.
The first three days of marching went more smoothly than Zhao Feng had expected.
The army advanced westward along an ancient trade route. Though somewhat pitted, the road was generally level enough for the supply train to pass at its normal pace.