Chapter 373 Military Situation
The team marched for a day and arrived at Qingling Mountain, where Yu Zheng had planned, when it was completely dark. They found a flat place at the foot of the mountain to set up camp.
Zhuiyun and Zhufeng led the soldiers to move separately, set up tents, collect firewood, fetch water to make fire...
Jiang Shu and Yu Zheng sat in front of the fire, watching Zhuiyun cooking soup while heating up the cold and hard steamed buns.
The army was on the march and the food and lodging were simple. Soon Zhuiyun cooked the soup, and Zhufeng set up a table, put a plate of salted vegetables, a plate of steamed buns and two bowls of meat and vegetable soup.
Yu Zheng handed the chopsticks to Jiang Shu, and the two ate by the light of the fire.
After the meal, they simply washed up with hot water and returned to the carriage to rest.
This carriage was specially made for traveling. The seat board can be folded up during the day and unfolded to form a bed board at night. With a quilt on it, it becomes a simple bed.
However, the carriage was not big enough to keep out the cold winter night. Jiang Shu felt cold and went straight into Yu Zheng's arms.
Yu Zheng knew that she would feel cold, so he asked Leng Xing to make two bottles of hot water and put them behind Jiang Shu's back.
But even so, it was hard to resist the cold in the mountains.
Fortunately, Yu Zheng's whole body was warm, and Jiang Shu curled up in his arms. After a while, she finally felt warm.
"Go to sleep. We have to get up before dawn tomorrow to travel." Yu Zheng tucked the corner of the quilt for her.
Jiang Shu responded and closed her eyes for a long time but she was not sleepy at all.
She felt uncomfortable with the pressure on her arm, so she moved slightly. Yu Zheng asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Shu said in a muffled voice, "I wonder if Ziyou is asleep, and if he is crying."
This was the first time they left Yu Ziyou, so he was worried.
Yu Zheng sighed, "Don't think too much, he will get used to it in a few days."
When Jiang Shu said she wanted to come to Pingyang with him, he expected that she would miss Yu Ziyou. But the matter is important, and now she is on the road and can't turn back.
Jiang Shu also understood this truth, so she didn't say anything more, and forced herself to calm down and fall asleep calmly.
At the same time, in the Shangjing Palace.
The usually quiet and peaceful Zhongling Palace was filled with crying tonight. Concubine
Yu Gui held Yu Ziyou, who was crying non-stop, and kept pacing back and forth to comfort him.
However, no matter how she coaxed him, Yu Ziyou kept crying.
The emperor was puzzled and asked, "Why is he fine during the day, but suddenly he gets upset before going to bed?"
After dinner, the emperor played with Yu Ziyou for a long time and thought he was very well-behaved. But unexpectedly, when he was about to go to bed, Yu Ziyou suddenly started crying and couldn't be coaxed no matter how she coaxed him.
Concubine Yu called Chu Yu and the wet nurse to inquire about the situation.
"Is the young master like this on weekdays?"
Chu Yu and the two wet nurses, who entered the palace for the first time, pinched their hands and lowered their heads to answer carefully.
"The young master usually cries only when he is hungry, sleepy, or uncomfortable. He rarely cries for no reason."
"Then what happened today?" The emperor asked solemnly.
The two wet nurses were frightened and didn't know how to answer.
Chu Yu said boldly: "The young master may miss his father and mother."
"In the past, the prince and the princess would go out during the day, but they would come back to accompany the young master at night."
But today, none of them came back.
Yu Ziyou has long developed a habit, and will cry only when he can't wait for his father and mother.
After hearing this, the emperor frowned and said nothing. Concubine Yu sighed and said to Chu Yu: "You come to comfort him, Ziyou is familiar with you."
"Yes." Chu Yu responded and took Yu Ziyou's comfort from Concubine Yu.
Hearing the familiar voice and smelling the familiar smell, Yu Ziyou stared at Chu Yu and stopped crying.
Finally, he stopped crying.
Concubine Yu Gui and the Emperor heaved a sigh of relief and prepared to let Chu Yu take Yu Ziyou to rest.
However, before they could say anything, Yu Ziyou pouted and started crying again.
Nanny Gui said, "The young master is missing his mother. I'm afraid it will take a while to coax him."
Concubine Yu Gui said helplessly, "Your Majesty, please go and rest first. I'll stay with Ziyou."
Yu Lan was there before and was called by Concubine Yu Gui to stay. The Emperor had to attend the morning court tomorrow and had to rest.
After the Emperor left, Concubine Yu Gui asked people to close the doors and windows to block out the crying as much as possible so as not to disturb the Emperor and Yu Lan.
At the end of the cold moon, Yu Ziyou was tired of crying and gradually fell asleep.
Concubine Yu Gui gently wiped away the remaining tear marks on his little face with a handkerchief, took off her clothes and shoes, and lay down to sleep with Yu Ziyou.
Chu Yu and the wet nurse retreated with a slight surprise, closing the door.
The cold wind howled like a beast, wrapped in the cold snowflakes, hitting people's faces and feeling as cold and painful as a knife.
The guards pushed open the door of the border general's mansion, and Shen Changze entered the room to report the latest military situation to Yu Cheng.
Yu Cheng looked at the snowflakes on his head and body, and poured him a cup of hot tea: "Warm yourself up with the snow first."
The winter night at the border was really cold to the bone.
Shen Changze casually patted the snowflakes on his body, sat in front of the brazier and drank the hot tea given by Yu Cheng.
After warming up a little, Shen Changze said: "In this battle, our army suffered 3,000 casualties and 271 deaths."
"According to the report from the spies, the Mobei army drank and reveled after returning to the camp, and it seems that they have no plan to fight again in the short term."
After a pause, Shen Changze said: "Based on my experience of guarding the border for six years and dealing with the Mobei people, it snowed heavily tonight. I'm afraid it will fall for a day or two. The snow is too thick to march. Mobei will not move in the next few days."
"Well." Yu Cheng frowned and thought: "Order the spies to keep a close eye on Mobei's movements, just in case."
The heavy snow was freezing, and the supply of food, grass and winter clothes had not arrived, so it was not suitable for fighting.
The terrible thing is that Mobei will take the opportunity to attack.
They arrived at the border for half a month and fought with Mobei three times.
On the first day of the border crossing, the two armies fought fiercely. Shen Changze and Cheng Jinchu, relying on their familiarity with the border terrain, led 20,000 light cavalry to go around and attack Mobei from the front and back when it was unprepared, giving it a heavy blow.
After the Mobei army withdrew for ten miles and rested for seven days, they attacked again.
It was a hard battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and no one got the upper hand.
Then there was today's battle, which ended in an hour.
Today's battle was a bit strange. Mobei did not attack as fiercely as before. It only sent 30,000 soldiers to challenge. After a small fight, they withdrew when they saw the snow.
It was hard to understand.
While Yu Cheng was thinking, the door opened again. General Zheng, who was over fifty years old and had a scruffy beard, came in with a letter and a happy face.
"Your Highness, I just received the news that food, fodder and winter clothes will arrive in ten days at most."
Yu Cheng took the letter and read it carefully.
Ten days, not long, not short, I don't know if the soldiers can hold on.
Although last year's winter clothes can keep out the cold, the old cotton clothes are not as warm as new clothes, and the combat training is very wear and tear, and many of them have been broken.
The cold snow has just begun at the border. After this heavy snow, there will be countless more heavy snows. New cotton-padded clothes are crucial.
Yu Cheng held the letter and said, "There must be no mistakes in the winter clothes. Tomorrow, General Shen will lead a thousand light cavalry to meet them. They must conduct more inspections along the way to prevent Mobei from burning clothes and destroying food."
"Yes." Shen Changze agreed.
Mobei has done this before.
Although it is impossible for a large army to enter the border, it is hard to guard against dozens or hundreds of people disguising themselves and sneaking through the border.
These few people are no match for the large army escorting baggage, but they can launch rockets in dangerous areas to burn clothes. Even if they fail, they can still destroy some of the clothes and affect the progress of the march.
We have to be on guard.