Horse on the World

Chapter 808
The winter in Weizhou this year is also extremely strange. At this time of year in previous years, there was already heavy snowfall, and the ground was full of snow. However, although the weather this year is extremely cold, it is that kind of dry and cold. I am extremely worried. If there is not enough snow and flowers, then next year's harvest will become a big problem. Experienced old people can almost predict that next year will usher in the year of severe drought in memory.

Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. The long-lost snowflakes finally fell, but everyone did not feel happy. Although the long-awaited snow came, it was accompanied by the flames of war that spread throughout Weizhou .The military disaster was worse than the natural disaster. The common people fled with their families to Weizhou City, which seemed to be very peaceful for the time being.

On the roads leading to Weizhou City from all over the country, there was an endless stream of fleeing people, staggering forward in the heavy snow. Because Yangquan was still stubbornly resisting, these roads were still unimpeded for the time being, except for occasional soldiers from the Southern Army. The sentry cavalry infiltrated, and they just waited and watched the fleeing crowd for a while before riding away. These refugees were not the target of their detection.

From the beginning of the new year to the first day of the new year, Lan Yu and Xu Siyu did not launch an attack on Yangquan, but allowed the soldiers to rest for two days, and the camp also specially added food for the soldiers. They fled completely, either hid in Yangquan, or were fleeing on the road to Weizhou City, which saved the Southern Army a lot of trouble. The pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks abandoned by the common people became the spoils of the Southern Army. Night was served on the soldiers' table.

And in Yangquan City, the same story is happening. The soldiers are wearing armor and carrying weapons, living their new year festival that is destined to be remembered for many years. How long, but Xu Ji still did his best to let the soldiers feel the atmosphere of the New Year.Even the people who fled were given two white flour steamed buns and a catty of meat.

Xu Ji has been in Yangquan for eighteen days.During the [-] days of the opponent's crazy attack, Yangquan's defense has improved by [-]%, and now there are less than [-] soldiers still fighting.

Supporting the wall of the city, Xu Ji looked up at the sky and looked at the snowflakes falling all over the sky, but his eyes showed a look of joy, "It's snowing, it's snowing well, let's make it bigger." At this time, outside the city It was a vast expanse of whiteness, and the camp of the Confederate Army in the distance was also covered with silver.

"It did fall well!" Jin Chao shook the snowflakes on his cloak. "The colder the weather, the better. We still have city walls and houses to shelter from the wind and cold. I want to see how they can resist the wind and cold with their thin tents." severe cold."

Xu Ji chuckled, "Yes, the Southern Army was born and raised in the South, where the climate is warm and humid, which is very different from ours. Even though King Ning has made preparations for attacking Weizhou for a long time, no matter how abundant the supplies are, the soldiers Adaptation to climate is also a big issue. This is extremely beneficial to us."

Stretching out his hand to brush over the battlements, the snow had already accumulated several inches thick. Xu Ji said: "Use the snow to raise the city wall, and then pour water on it. After one night, it will be stronger than steel."

"Pouring the city wall with water will make the city wall look like ice."

"Snow water can also be used to make ice bombs, which can save the stone bombs of the trebuchet."

The two talked to each other, and in a short while, they came up with a number of tricks, looked at each other, and couldn't help laughing.

The city rejoiced for the snow, but the generals outside the city were worried. Although they were prepared for the severe cold in Weizhou, they were born in the south and had no personal experience of the severe cold in Weizhou. Only then did I realize that my previous assumptions were completely unrealistic.

I thought the cotton coats were thick enough, but under the cold wind here, the cotton coats filled with silk flocks could not help the soldiers resist the low temperature at all. At this point, Lan Yu and Xu Siyu were extremely jealous of the equipment of the soldiers in the city.These days, from the soldiers of the Dingzhou Army who were either killed or captured, they saw the equipment that made them dumbfounded. Cotton padded clothes, which were still a luxury in the south, are the equipment of an ordinary soldier here. Gloves, etc. protect the soldiers tightly.And these, in the south, in their army, are barely fully equipped for the generals.

"Li Qingzhen is fucking rich!" said Xu Siyu, who was patrolling the barracks with Lan Yu.

"It's not that he is rich, it's that these things were first planted by them. I heard that the cost of this thing is not high, but it's just shipped to us, and it's more than ten times higher to sell." Sapphire shook his head. .

"Dingzhou didn't grow cotton on a large scale!" Xu Siyu said puzzledly: "The Central Plains restricts the entry of grain into Dingzhou. In order to make a living, they basically plant food crops in all good fields!"

"Shiwei, don't forget about Shiwei. I heard that cotton itself was discovered there. Li Qing controls Shiwei, and of course it will be planted there on a large scale. Besides, Shiwei is a barbarian. Li Qing doesn't care about them. I am afraid that as long as they are not starved to death, they will be fine."

Xu Siyu pulled a soldier on duty and saw the bloody holes on the soldier's palm. The blood oozed out and would freeze into ice in a short while. The soldier could only keep changing the weapon in his hand, otherwise It will freeze the palm and the weapon together.

"How is your situation like this?" Xu Siyu asked sadly.

"Back to the general, there are many, and many brothers have frostbitten feet, and they are all rotten, and it is difficult to walk." The soldier said.

"Brother Lan, the situation is not good. If this continues for a long time, we will be overwhelmed by the weather." Xu Siyu said, "It's too cold in Weizhou."

Opened a tent, a fire was burning inside the tent, it seemed that it was inside the doors and windows of ordinary people that were dismantled from nearby, dozens of soldiers were crowded tightly around the fire, Lan Yu touched the soldier's cushion under the buttocks The blanket was wet.Although there was a fire, the temperature inside the tent was still very low. As soon as the tent door was opened, the cold wind invaded, and some people shrank their shoulders immediately.

"Brothers, are you okay? Can you still hold a weapon and kill people?" Xu Siyu asked loudly with a smile on his face.

A lieutenant officer stood up, "General Hui, you can stand up and kill people, but it's too cold to sleep at night, and you don't have enough energy during the day."

"Very good!" Xu Siyu patted him on the shoulder, "We are cold, and the enemy is also cold, and they are almost unable to hold on, as long as they are hit once or twice, they will collapse. At that time, we will go to the city to spend the winter. Do you have the confidence to defeat them?"

"Yes!" The soldiers replied in unison, but their voices were a little weak.

After walking out of the camp, the two of them frowned even tighter, "Brother Lan, we must make a quick decision."

Sapphire nodded, "The opponent's will to resist is extremely strong, and I also want to fight quickly, but haste makes waste."

"If this continues, we will be the first to be unable to survive. In the past few days, the soldiers who went out to log were repeatedly attacked by Lu Dabing's cavalry, and lost hundreds of people. Moreover, there are basically no trees nearby. In a few days, The soldiers don’t even have anything to keep warm, and the places farther away are not safe, and Lu Dabing’s cavalry is really hard to deal with.” While talking, the two walked to the heights of the camp, staring at the silver-clad plains not far away. In Yangquan City, where the traces of war between the two places have been covered by heavy snow, everything looks so clean.

"Did you see that the opponent is using heavy snow to heighten and strengthen the city wall, it seems that they have no intention of breaking through and retreating at all." Xu Siyu said.

Lan Yu's brows were tightly twisted into a "Chuan" character, and she looked at the city wall in the distance, "What are those dangling around the city?" After staring for a while, she suddenly became furious, "These are some corpses. Is it the corpses of our brothers who died in battle, and Xu Jinchao actually insulted the soldiers who died in battle like this?"

On the top of the city, rows of corpses of Confederate soldiers were stripped naked and hung on the city. They had already been frozen into ice sculptures, drifting in the wind, and they even made tinkling sounds when they collided together.

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Xu Siyu's face, "This matter, cough cough, cough cough!"

Lan Yu looked at Xu Siyu suspiciously, wondering why he didn't look very angry, "What's going on? What's the secret?"

Xu Siyu hesitated for a moment, "Brother Lan, you didn't go to the front line to personally supervise the battle, some of the situation is not clear, it's not entirely the opponent's fault, after all, it's too cold, some brothers endure Can't stop, that, that?"

"what happened?"

"The enemies in Yangquan often launched counterattacks when we were attacking, going out of the city to fight back. Every time, many people died outside in battle. Some brothers became impatient and stripped the armor of these Dingzhou soldiers who died in battle. Are you You know, the equipment of Dingzhou soldiers is indeed very good."

Lan Yu suddenly understood that her soldiers were so cold that they stripped the Dingzhou soldiers who died outside the city and threw their corpses on the battlefield. The soldiers on the city also stripped naked for public display. Seeing the rows of gleaming corpses on the top of the city, Lan Yu sighed, not knowing what to say. Although the war itself is cruel, but such a scene Even Sapphire found it unbearable.

"Order the army to let go of the siege to the north of Yangquan. We will only attack three sides and leave a hole for them to retreat. Secondly, from today on, let the soldiers start building snow platforms, the higher the better." Lan Yu said: "One day Within, I want to see a snow platform that is as high as the city. Tomorrow, we will launch a general offensive."

"Yes."

"Send a letter to King Ning and ask for help. Yangquan is so difficult to fight. After several years of operation in Dingzhou, Weizhou City will be even more difficult. Please His Highness King Ning send reinforcements."

"General Hu Zequan's men and horses have long been ready for attack."

"Why hasn't Xiabaoping been captured yet? Zeng Yifan, with 6 or [-] troops, has been fighting for so long, yet he still hasn't captured Xiabaoping. He must be playing tricks again. You should write to him and warn him."

"understand!"

(End of this chapter)