From March to September, there is a full six months.
For the northern barbarians, the harsh winters used to be the most difficult to endure. The wastelands were covered in ice and snow, and people could freeze to death, while cattle and sheep could starve to death.
But now, the difficult times have become spring and summer.
The wasteland was overgrown with horse-drunken grass, making grazing impossible. Not only did the cattle and sheep go hungry, but even the warhorses were starving.
The people aren't much better.
Panic spread among the northern barbarians, but they could only pin their hopes on the Drunken Horse Grass.
Amidst this daily panic, many people have realized that even if the Drunken Horse Grass is valuable, they cannot rely on it for survival, as this would be tantamount to handing their fate over to the Great Abyss.
Next year, they will still mainly rely on herding.
In fact, they did not want to put all their hopes on the Drunken Horse Grass, but this grass was too strong and grew in all the places suitable for its growth.
They couldn't bear to destroy these poisonous plants that could be sold for a lot of money and exchanged for a lot of food, which is why these poisonous plants were everywhere in the Northern Barbarians.
By the time they realized what was happening, the situation had already deteriorated to this point.
They couldn't bear to destroy the drunken horse grass, but even if they did, there was no time to wait for fresh pasture to grow on the wasteland. They had no other choice.
The northern barbarians waited day and night, and finally, the Drunken Horse Grass bore fruit.
However, the Da Yuan army arrived before the Da Yuan merchants.
The army set fire to the wasteland, burning the drunken grass and their hopes.
At the moment he ordered the burning of the drunken horse grass, Ye Jingchen felt like a villain.
However, to the northern barbarians, he was indeed an utterly wicked villain.
From the moment this plan was implemented, it was destined that many northern barbarians would die in this heinous scheme that defied the natural order.
After two years of training in the Divine Might Army, Ye Jingchen not only mastered the Xie family's spear technique, but his horsemanship and archery skills also improved rapidly, enabling him to compete with the most elite soldiers in the Divine Might Army.
Of course, there is still a considerable gap between them and Xie Chang'an.
But at least, he was already capable of leading the Divine Might Army to attack the Northern Barbarians together with Xie Chang'an.
In Chinese history, there was a young general who is well-known to later generations. He was the recipient of one of the highest honors for a military general, the Marquis of Champion, Huo Qubing. His achievement was defeating the Xiongnu.
Besides his strategic vision and tactics, there were three other reasons why he was able to defeat the Xiongnu.
Firstly, the Han army had an advantage in military weaponry.
Secondly, Huo Qubing had excellent intelligence capabilities, and the guides he found were very familiar with the terrain of the Xiongnu.
Thirdly, Huo Qubing discovered the Xiongnu's fatal weakness—extremely poor strategic mobility.
Like the Xiongnu, the Northern Barbarians were nomadic peoples with strong armies and horses. They also shared the same complex terrain and even their weaknesses.
The reason Xie Chang'an was able to drive out the Northern Barbarians in his previous life was because he discovered the Northern Barbarians' extremely poor strategic mobility, which allowed him to penetrate deep into their territory and defeat them.
Although the northern barbarians were more familiar with their own territory, skilled in mounted combat, and adept at escaping, these were merely tactics and did not equate to combat mobility.
On the contrary, nomadic peoples live by following water and pasture. Once they settle in one place, when war breaks out, the able-bodied men fight, while the women and children are responsible for logistical support. They always bring their families with them wherever they go.
Their food supply still comes from cattle and sheep, which move slowly, so once they are discovered by the Divine Might Army, they have no way to escape.
In their previous life, they were defeated one by one by Xie Chang'an in the same way.
Xie Chang'an used war to sustain war, fighting all the way to the Northern Barbarian King's court and driving them out of the wilderness.
However, in this life, after fighting the first tribe, Xie Chang'an and Ye Jingchen faced a problem.
Long-distance raids cannot carry much food, so plundering the enemy's supplies is the best option. But now there is a problem: the northern barbarians are starving themselves. They have eaten all the cattle and sheep and are only short of eating the warhorses. Where will they get supplies?
Ye Jingchen took the initiative to attack because he was worried that the Northern Barbarians would fight back desperately, but now it seems that they may not be able to gather enough supplies for a counterattack in a short time.
But since we've already come all this way, we can't just go back like this, can we?
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. If we don't take advantage of the Northern Barbarians when they are at their weakest, are we going to wait until they have recovered and seek revenge on Da Yuan?
Fortunately, although the cattle and sheep had almost finished eating, there were other things to eat.
Afterwards, they launched several surprise attacks in the heart of the Northern Barbarian territory. In addition to burning the grass for the drunken horses, their main objective was to defeat the main force of the Northern Barbarian cavalry and seize warhorses and provisions.
The lower-quality warhorses were used as military rations, while the best quality ones could be taken back for breeding.
In this battle, the Divine Might Army almost burned all the Drunken Horse Grass on the northern barbarian lands.
Having witnessed their growth potential, Ye Jingchen naturally wouldn't allow these grasses to wreak havoc on the land of northern Xinjiang.
Even after it's burned down, the ashes can still serve as nutrients, nourishing the land.
After driving the northern barbarians to the desolate lands further north, the Divine Might Army returned home.
If they continued to venture further north, the terrain was unfamiliar even to Xie Chang'an, and they also lacked sufficient supplies.
Furthermore, winter is approaching, and they must return to the northern frontier before the snow covers the wasteland. Otherwise, even with Xie Chang'an with them, they might still get lost in the wilderness.
As for this wasteland, it lacks natural defenses like the Tianxing Mountains, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is vast and boundless, so occupying it would be meaningless.
Perhaps in a few years, the Northern Barbarians will return to this land to recuperate and continue their hostility towards the Great Abyss, but that will be many years from now.
Over the years, they can explore this land and uncover its secrets and value.
The snow started falling when we were halfway back to northern Xinjiang.
After rushing for a while, they finally saw the familiar Tianxing Mountains.
With this mountain range as a landmark, they won't get lost.
After running around the wilderness for several more days, we finally returned to the northern frontier amidst heavy snowfall.
When they returned, Yuheng Pass was wide open, and Xie Shaoling and Xu Jingjing led all the generals of the Divine Might Army to welcome them back.
Upon returning to the Shenwei Army's base, Ye Jingchen immediately ordered the soldiers who had accompanied them on the expedition to take a three-day rest.
We'll discuss everything in three days.
After briefly summarizing the outcome of the battle to Xie Shaoling and the others, Ye Jingchen returned to his residence.
Three months later, when Ye Jingchen saw his bed again, he lay on it and didn't want to move. He stayed there for a whole day, and even his three meals were delivered to his room by the eunuchs.
This expedition was more tiring for Xie Chang'an than for him. For the first time, he didn't disturb him in bed and slept even more soundly than Xie Chang'an.
The next day, Ye Jingchen, having rested and recharged, began writing battle reports to the emperor to boast about his victory.
After finishing writing the battle report, he began to read the letters.
The letters accumulated over three months were piled up higher than the memorials on the emperor's desk. However, his mood was completely different from when he was reviewing the memorials. He was not just reading the letters, but more importantly, the thoughts and care his children had for him.
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