Chapter 407 Collusion
But after all, it was a matter of life and death, so those who were timid and afraid of death, and those who were lazy and unwilling to work, all remained silent.
The soldiers did not force them, and took those who were willing to join the army and left, leaving a string of footprints on the snow.
When it was getting dark, the snow fell again.
The goose-feather snow flew down and fell into the strings of footprints, covering them bit by bit.
It was quiet in front of the beggars' den, as if no one had ever been there.
The beggars who stayed behind hid in the broken house, wrapped in ragged clothes and huddled together in a corner to avoid the wind, yawning and drowsy, while thinking about where to get food tomorrow.
They smacked their lips, thinking that there were fewer beggars, and it would be easier to beg for food in the future, and they were in a good mood.
The beggars who entered the military camp, under the arrangement and guidance of the general, wore thick cotton clothes, were allocated warm tents, and ate hot soup and full meals.
Of course, all this was not for nothing. After dinner, they were arranged to boil water, wash dishes, clean the kitchen, etc.
It was late at night when they finished all the work. They walked back to the tent on the soft snow, lay on the simple but comfortable quilt bed, and fell asleep peacefully.
After entering the military camp, as long as they were diligent and followed orders, they would no longer have to suffer from hunger and cold, nor would they be looked down upon and chased away by others. This feeling was really great.
Three days passed in a flash, and the New Year was about to end.
On the evening of the third day of the Chinese New Year, Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu finished their discussion with the generals. After the generals left, they did not leave, but continued to think while staring at the sand table map.
Yu Zheng said, "It's been warm these few days since the Chinese New Year. It's a good opportunity, but Nanyan has not taken any action. It's really strange."
Zhou Boxu thought, "Maybe we missed a point. Not only is the fighting time of the Nanyan Vipers limited, but they may also need to rest in between."
Yu Zheng's expression suddenly changed when he heard this, and he pursed his lips and said, "If that's the case, the Nanyan Vipers can't fight normally, and the Nanyan people have no intention of taking Yicheng by force in the short term, so why send troops in winter?"
Zhou Boxu also found it strange and looked up at Yu Zheng.
After a discussion, Yu Zheng concluded, "There is only one possibility. Nanyan is delaying on purpose, waiting for the weather to warm up completely and for our army to run out of food and grass before attacking it."
Zhou Boxu continued, "And the time when Nanyan's troops set out from Yicheng was very close to the border. I don't believe it's just a coincidence."
Yu Zheng raised his hand and patted Zhou Boxu's shoulder, smiling knowingly, "You and I think the same."
Zhou Boxu smiled back.
"Zhuiyun Zhufeng." Yu Zheng shouted outside.
"Master." Zhuiyun Zhufeng received the order to go into the house.
Yu Zheng said in a deep voice, "You two should pack up and leave immediately, take people to Nanyan and Mobei, and carefully investigate whether Nanyan and Mobei have any exchanges or collusion."
"Yes." Zhuiyun Zhufeng agreed, and immediately went to gather people and returned to the courtyard to pack their luggage.
After they left, Zhou Boxu said, "If Nanyan and Mobei are really colluding, we should remind His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, take precautions, and discuss a good countermeasure."
Yu Zheng nodded, sat down behind the desk, spread out paper and picked up a pen to write a letter to Yu Cheng, and ordered someone to send it to the border quickly.
The matter was urgent, and Zhuiyun Zhufeng simply packed up, had dinner, and set out in the dark.
Taking advantage of the cover of night, they led people out of the city, one in the south and one in the north.
The journey to Mobei is long, and it will take at least more than a month to go back and forth and explore.
After the New Year, the weather will become warmer. At most two or three months, the Nanyan venomous snakes can be used normally.
So they have to seize the time and come up with a countermeasure.
That night Yu Zheng went to Zhou Boxu's room, and the two discussed until midnight, rejecting and overturning a lot of plans.
"It seems that our troops are 20,000 more than Nanyan's, but Nanyan has a beast army, which is powerful enough to match 20,000 generals."
Zhou Boxu frowned, paused and said, "And the most important point is that the army will not be stable until we find a way to control snake venom."
Yu Zheng sighed and looked solemn.
Seeing that Yu Zheng had not returned to the house to rest for a long time, Jiang Shu, who came to visit, heard their conversation and whispered, "Rosewood said that geese can drive snakes away. Can we use geese to fight?"
Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu heard this, their eyes first lit up, and then they thought about it again.
"Nanyan's poisonous snakes and tigers have to go through years of training before they can go into battle. But ordinary geese have not received special training, so it may be difficult for them to obey orders."
Besides, geese are different from snakes and tigers. Not only are they afraid of people and knives and guns, they also have an instinctive fear of tigers. When they see tigers on the battlefield and are frightened by the tiger's roar, they will probably fly away in all directions, let alone fight.
But there is one thing, the geese are covered with feathers, and it is difficult for poisonous snakes to bite them.
After thinking about it, Yu Zheng and Zhou Boxu decided to give it a try.
It was already midnight, and after the agreement, Yu Zheng and Jiang Shu returned to the yard to rest.
A gust of cold wind blew, and Jiang Shu shivered with cold. She looked up at the dark night sky and said, "The weather has changed, and it's going to be cold again."
Yu Zheng responded and took her into the house quickly.
The cold wind howled, causing the temperature to drop drastically. The weather
in Yicheng had changed, but the border had cleared up.
However, the thick snow had not melted yet, and it was still bone-chillingly cold, especially in the second half of the night, when people were shivering from the cold.
The soldiers who were guarding the watchtowers, although they were warming themselves by the fire, were still rubbing their hands and stamping their feet because of the cold.
Watching the sky in the distance change from dark black to gray and white bit by bit, the soldiers saw hope and looked forward to changing shifts and resting after dawn.
Suddenly, he seemed to see something, and the smile on his lips froze.
Rubbing his eyes hurriedly, the soldier climbed up the fence of the watchtower and looked intently.
He was not mistaken, on the snow in the distance, there was a large black shadow slowly moving towards the border.
The soldiers immediately became nervous and hurriedly rang the bell to inform the patrol officers.
The crisp bell was particularly clear in the quiet dawn, but it was very harsh.
After hearing it, the patrol officers immediately woke up and quickly informed everyone to prepare for the battle. After
a few days of alert without incident, the lieutenant generals relaxed a little, and before they woke up, they were urgently awakened to fight the enemy.
Yu Cheng, Shen Changze and other generals in the Marshal's Mansion received the news, quickly got up, dressed, put on armor, took swords and guns, and went out.
After leaving the general's mansion and reaching the city wall
, Yu Cheng saw that the army had not arrived yet, so he ordered the generals to go and check. Yu Cheng climbed up the city wall and saw that the Mobei army had already arrived at the city, ready to attack.
"Meet the enemy!" Yu Cheng ordered in a deep voice.
The general took the order and led 5,000 patrol soldiers out of the city to fight and delay time.
Half a cup of tea later, 30,000 light cavalry arrived first. Shen Changze walked down the city wall, jumped on his horse and led the army to kill the enemy.
For a while, there was a cry of killing under the city, and the sound of weapons clashing was endless.
After another quarter of an hour, the infantry arrived, holding swords and guns to join the battle.
The sky gradually became brighter, and Yu Cheng stood by the city wall and saw the Mobei army clearly.
In addition to the people fighting under the city, there were also reinforcements coming from afar. Yu Cheng's expression immediately darkened.
It seemed that Mobei was preparing for a large-scale attack this time, not just a small fight.
"Come here!" Yu Cheng called the general and ordered him to continue to gather troops in the military camp for reinforcement.
Cheng Jinchu stood by the city wall, looking at the fierce fighting below, anxiously searching for Shen Changze's figure.
However, there were too many people on both sides, the generals were dressed almost the same, and the battle was so chaotic that it was impossible to tell who was who.