Every inch of land is soaked in blood
The north wind from the desert, carrying snow foam and sand, lashed the thick felt of the golden-roofed tent in the royal court.
Inside the tent, the charcoal fire was burning brightly. Tuoba Hong was sitting on a wolfskin mattress, holding a secret report just sent from the south in his hand, with a smile slowly rising at the corner of his lips.
"She is here as expected." He whispered to himself, as if he was talking to several trusted generals in the tent, or as if he was talking to himself.
"Khan, Ning Lingyi is leading the army in person, and the Southern Dynasty's border must be strictly guarded. Should we continue the attack..." A tribal leader spoke cautiously.
"Attack?" Tuoba Hong interrupted him, "Why should we attack? The reason I am marching my army to the border is not to fight her this winter. This blizzard is a time for my men of Beishuo to rest, but it is a death warrant for her Southern Dynasty!"
"Pass the order! All main forces must withdraw and seek sheltered locations to properly spend the winter and conserve their strength. Send this king your most elite cavalry, who will harass her border outposts and food routes day and night!"
He glanced at the generals, "No need to fight to the death, just strike and run. I will make her 100,000-man army restless this winter, constantly on the run. I will deplete her food and fodder, wear down her spirit, and let her soldiers' fighting spirit sap in the cold and fear!"
He knew very well that the Southern Dynasty was powerful, but it also meant slow operation and astonishing consumption. He wanted to use this blunt knife method to cut meat and make Ning Lingyi tired before the battle.
"Next year, when spring comes and flowers bloom, and the grass grows and horses grow fat," Tuoba Hong said with unquestionable certainty, "that will be the moment when our Beishuo Iron Cavalry will truly crush the mountains and rivers and fight Ning Lingyi to the death!"
*
Heshuo front, Zhenbei City.
The wind was howling and the atmosphere was tense. Unlike the solemn atmosphere ahead, the tension here was oppressive, like a turbulent undercurrent beneath the surface of a frozen river.
Ning Lingyi stood on the city wall, gazing at the vast wilderness in the north. The cold wind blew on her face, bringing a biting chill, but she seemed unaware of it.
One hundred thousand combat troops and fifty thousand auxiliary troops—the daily food and rations for the men and horses were an astronomical figure. The pressure was like an invisible mountain, weighing heavily on her shoulders and on the nerves of the empire behind her.
"Your Majesty, all the troops have been deployed and are stepping up the repair of fortifications and digging trenches." Deputy Commander Xue Cheng stood beside her, his brows also filled with an unbreakable solemnity.
Ning Lingyi nodded slightly, her gaze still fixed on the distant horizon: "General Xue, what do you think Tuoba Hong is up to by doing this this winter?"
"The tactic is to tire out the enemy and deplete our army's morale and reserves," Xue Cheng replied without hesitation. "This is a common tactic used by the Grassland Wolf Riders. If my prediction is correct, their true thunderous momentum will surely be unleashed in the early spring of next year."
Returning to the general's tent, Ning Lingyi summoned all senior generals and staff.
On the huge sand table, the mountains, rivers, cities and passes of Heshuo are clearly visible.
"Everyone, Tuoba Hong's intentions are known to all. He intends to defeat his opponent with speed, utilizing his cavalry's superior mobility to bypass our strongholds, cut off our food supply, and divide our forces, hoping to achieve victory in a field battle."
She picked up a slender wooden pole and tapped it on the sand table. "Therefore, our military strategy focuses on stability. We won't be greedy for success, and we won't be reckless. We will rely on important towns like Yanyun Pass and Zhenbei City to build a deep defense line, resisting step by step and consuming the enemy layer by layer."
Her gaze swept across the faces of each general, her tone as solemn as steel: "Perhaps some people think that our Southern Dynasty boasts tens of millions of people, while Beishuo has only a million, so they're nothing to worry about. However, the soldiers we can recruit are only 1% to 2% of the population. In Beishuo, every clan is a soldier, and the number of soldiers we can recruit can reach 20% of the population!"
This number shocked some generals who were originally still arrogant.
"There is no luck in this battle."
"This battle concerns the fate of our nation and the survival of tens of millions of our compatriots! Every inch of land is shed with blood, and we cannot retreat a single step! We must make the people of Beishu pay the price with blood at every city gate!"
"We will follow your majesty's orders!" The generals responded loudly, and the room was filled with murderous aura.
Military orders are as heavy as a mountain. The city walls are being reinforced and the trenches are being deepened.
The war has not yet begun, but it already lives in everyone's heart.
*
In the side courtyard of the Marshal's Mansion, the lights are often on until late at night.
This place became the center for military supply dispatch, and the sounds of abacus, writing, and low discussions were heard everywhere.
Chen Zhiwei sat behind a mountain of account books. Spread out in front of her were the grain and grass transfer records and consumption lists reported from various places. The numbers on them made her feel the horror of war so intuitively for the first time.
It was not the flashing of swords and sabers on the battlefield, but the huge amount of supplies disappearing like water every day on the account books. She finally understood why His Majesty attached so much importance to food and logistics, and was almost very particular about every penny.
These are not just food supplies, they are clearly the lives of 100,000 soldiers, the lifeline of this battle for the nation's destiny!
How much is consumed every day?
Nearly 300,000 kilograms of food and fodder were eaten every day without any sound, and it was time to start eating and drinking again the next day. Sometimes Chen Zhiwei wanted to be the stingy landlord and just give the food a bucket of cold water and be done with it.
But even if it's just a joke, food is still being consumed in real terms.
At night, she began to worry and couldn't sleep.
Although merchants with new salt permits brought in grain, she was always frightened by the huge consumption. What if there was no food?
She dreamed several times that countless soldiers surrounded her, saying that there was no food and asking her for food over and over again. She woke up in the middle of the night and was really uneasy.
She was no longer satisfied with just counting the accounts and began to actively study the food routes that wound on the map.
She found that traditional transportation routes mostly followed the old system, some sections were too circuitous, and the water level of some rivers dropped in winter, affecting transportation capacity. She found an old official who was familiar with geography, asked repeatedly, and reviewed the hydrological and road records over the years.
When it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she would sit at her desk and calculate, using mathematics, which she was best at, to try to build a more optimized route model.
She made a more sophisticated combination of land and water routes, calculated the efficiency and loss under different weather conditions and different means of transportation. She even boldly imagined taking advantage of the fact that rivers are frozen in winter and trying ice sled transportation in certain sections of the river.
This is not an easy task, as it involves extremely complex personnel deployment, node connection, and loss estimation.
She kept starting over and over again, and the wastebasket was full of discarded drafts.
"Master Chen, please take a break. This method has never been tried before and the risk is too great..." a colleague kindly advised.
Chen Zhiwei just shook his head: "The soldiers on the front line are bleeding, and we in the rear can't just not use our brains."
Not only did she talk about it on paper, she also begged Zhou Yingxue to allocate her a small team of people and some non-critical materials to carry out a small-scale experimental transportation on a branch line.
She personally recorded the time and loss of each link and constantly adjusted the plan.
If you fail, find the reason; if you encounter obstacles, find ways to resolve them.
Finally, after several failed attempts, she integrated a new logistics supply plan that combined water and land transportation, fully utilized seasonal characteristics, and optimized transit nodes.
After actual testing, compared with the old route, the overall transportation efficiency has increased by nearly 10%, and the loss along the way has also been significantly reduced!
Chen Zhiwei just wanted to cry. This 10% increase meant that food could be delivered to the front line faster, and it could save the court a lot of manpower and financial resources.
She took a deep breath, carefully sorted out all the calculation processes, experimental data and final plan, and wrote a well-organized memorial, requesting to see Ning Lingyi.
In the commander's tent, Ning Lingyi was discussing military affairs with Xue Cheng and others. When she heard that Chen Zhiwei had important matters to report about logistics, she summoned her in.
Under the gazes of the generals and important ministers, Chen Zhiwei suppressed his nervousness, bowed and greeted them, and then presented his findings in detail.
She did not exaggerate, but used the most plain language and the most solid data to illustrate the advantages and feasibility of the new plan.
The hall was silent for a moment, with only her voice echoing.
Although Xue Cheng and others were not familiar with the details, they understood the importance of food and fodder, and nodded frequently as they listened.
Ning Lingyi listened quietly, her eyes fixed on Chen Zhiwei's face, which was flushed with nervousness but extremely determined, until Chen Zhiwei finished his statement and bowed to present the memorial.
Ning Lingyi took it and quickly flipped through it. Then, she raised her eyes and looked at the young female official standing solemnly in the hall, with a smile of approval on her face that she had almost never seen since the war began.
"Good!" Ning Lingyi's voice reached everyone clearly. "Chen Zhiwei, your contribution this time is more significant to the overall situation than a powerful army on the front lines!"
She announced, "From now on, Chen Zhiwei will be promoted to fifth-rank military affairs secretary. Together with Zhou Yingxue, he will be in charge of the military's supply and material allocation! You must fully cooperate."
Her gaze finally fell on Chen Zhiwei, and she spoke solemnly, "I'm entrusting the food security of over a hundred thousand soldiers on the front lines to you two. You must ensure that every grain of food is used effectively, and not a single grain is wasted!"
"I obey your order! I will do my best to live up to your majesty's trust!" Chen Zhiwei knelt on the ground, his voice choked with sobs.
She jumped six levels from the eighth rank to the fifth rank in just three months!
This news, like a huge rock thrown into a dull winter day, quickly caused a huge wave in the army.
Countless pairs of eyes were watching, some were surprised, some were questioning, but more importantly, there was a burning warmth in the eyes of women who were also in different positions and eager to make a difference.
They originally thought that they would remain as minor officials for many years, but unexpectedly, Chen Zhiwei's experience immediately pointed them in the right direction!
Under Ning Lingyi's command, we don't look at your background or gender, we only look at whether you can do things and whether you can get things done!
A new trend of pragmatism, hard work and innovation has quietly formed. They no longer stick to the rules, but strive to share the emperor's worries and serve the country within their own powers.
Countless "Chen Zhiwei" were being stimulated. Under the war pressure imposed by Tuoba Hong, they managed to maintain a logistical lifeline for the Southern Dynasty, which was tight but never broken.
The abacus in their hands is more powerful than anything else.
The winter is still cold, but under the ice and snow, the seeds of hope are quietly sprouting.
*
Thousands of miles away in the imperial capital, the winter atmosphere is not as cold as in Mobei, but it is still a bit chilly.
The Chen Mansion has been shrouded in a low pressure atmosphere for some time.
Ever since Chen Zhiwei acted so audaciously, Chen's father's anger had never subsided. He felt humiliated and could hardly raise his head among his colleagues. The shame, anger and resentment that he had nowhere to vent were all poured out on Chen's mother.
"Look at the good daughter you raised! She disobeyed her elders, abandoned her family, and did such shocking things! She has brought shame to my Chen family!" Similar scoldings have become almost commonplace.
Chen's mother cried all day long, silently enduring her husband's anger. She was worried and missed her daughter who was far away in the northern border.
But a report that came rushing in from the northern border was like a huge rock thrown into stagnant water, instantly breaking the oppression of the Chen Mansion and shaking the entire officialdom.
"Good news? A great victory in the north?" When Chen's father heard it for the first time, he didn't take it seriously. He just thought it was a military victory at the front.
When colleagues, relatives, friends, and even old acquaintances who came to congratulate him broke down his door and sincerely congratulated him on "the blessing of having such a daughter, which is a blessing for the family", he vaguely understood the whole story.
It was not the news of victory in the battlefield, but the news of his "rebellious" daughter Chen Zhiwei, who had made extraordinary achievements in logistics and was personally praised by Her Majesty the Empress for her "merits surpassing those of a great army" and was promoted to the fifth rank of Military Affairs Minister!
Fifth grade!
Military Affairs Minister!
The Prime Minister dispatches military supplies for the army!
Every word was like a heavy hammer hitting Chen's father's heart.
He froze, his face burning as if he had been slapped hard, yet with an incredible dizziness.
A fifth-rank official at the age of seventeen... This was completely beyond his understanding in his ten-year official career. He had been working hard for half his life, but he could only get a sinecure of the eighth rank!
He has always been proud and thought he was great, but he didn't want to...
In the following days, Chen's house was crowded with people coming to congratulate him.
There was an endless stream of praise, compliments, and exclamations. All the overt or covert ridicule and pity of the past had now turned into envy.
The one who dealt the final blow to Chen's father was the chief official of the yamen where Chen's father worked. He personally sent the capable housekeeper of the mansion to visit with generous gifts.
The butler was smiling and speaking respectfully, but he handed the heavy gift list directly to Chen's mother.
"Greetings, Madam! My master has specifically instructed that Madam Chen's nurturing and guidance have contributed to the emergence of Master Chen, a talented woman today. This small gift is not enough to express my respect. My master also said that our two families should visit each other frequently in the future. I hope Madam will take good care of him."
These words were perfectly executed, giving Mother Chen ample face. She had given birth to a good daughter, and she had earned the recognition and respect of the important officials of the court. Meanwhile, he, the head of the family and the father, seemed to have become an insignificant and somewhat intrusive background.
At that moment, all the color drained from Chen's father's face, his lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a word.
He looked at his wife, whose face was finally glowing, surrounded by the crowd, and at the joy and noise in the room, and felt it was extremely dazzling.
He retreated step by step, trying to avoid the gazes cast at him, whether overt or covert. He shrank into the corner and into the shadows, wishing he could hide himself.
In the end, when no one was paying attention, Father Chen completely disappeared in the glory and bustle brought about by his daughter.
In this ever-changing era, some things have completely changed.
But Chen's father had been left far behind by this surging wave.
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