What is the northern desert?

Generally refers to Mobei area.

Mobei, also called Lingbei, refers to the desert in the north of China and the vast area in the north of Gobi, the political, military and cultural center and forest of Mobei. In the Qing dynasty, it was specifically under the jurisdiction of General Uriah Sutai, and in the late Qing dynasty it was generally called Outer Mongolia. Now it belongs to Russia, Mongolia, China, Kazakstan and so on. Mobei is located in the eastern Gobi province, the southern Gobi province and the northern Gobi Altai province in southern Mongolia. It is the political, military and cultural center and forest of Mobei. Since the Qin dynasty, the word "desert" has often appeared in history books. When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he sent general Wei Qing to drive Xiongnu to Mobei. Later, Huo Qubing went deep into Mobei and went to Wolf House Xushan (Mongolian Kent Mountains). In the summer and June of 89 AD (the first year of Yongyuan in the Eastern Han Dynasty), Dou Xian, Geng Bing and North Khan fought in Mount Jiluo (now Mount Ebugen in Mongolia). North Khan was defeated and fled, pursued by the Han army, captured and killed more than 13 thousand people, and more than 200 thousand people from the northern Xiongnu defected one after another. Dou Xian and Geng Dengbing went to Yanran (now Hang 'ai Mountain, Mongolia), where Ban Gu wrote an inscription and returned the stone. In the north of Hang Ai Mountain, China people call it "extreme north", which is basically a wild zone.