Return your heart to the king
Three days later, in the western fortress of Avaris, the yellow sand roared like an angry beast, trying to swallow up this isolated city standing in the desert.
Ding Wei's delegation's convoy slowly stopped in the wind and sand. She opened the curtain of the car, and the biting cold wind mixed with sand and gravel scraped across her cheeks like a knife.
In front of the city gate, General Thutmose led only a dozen cavalry guards, with a thin layer of sand covering their iron armor and faces as cold as iron.
He dismounted with a swift movement, but without a full bow, he only nodded slightly. His voice was a little broken by the wind, but the aloofness and arrogance were clearly audible: "Princess, you are such a precious daughter, yet you have come to this place where swords are merciless. The border is bitterly cold, far from the palace. I hope you will forgive me if my hospitality has been inadequate."
Although his words seemed polite, they were actually full of contempt and distrust for her, the "airborne" princess.
In his opinion, what use could a woman living deep in the harem be other than causing trouble on the front line?
Ding Wei's maid Isis's face changed slightly. She was about to step forward to argue, but was stopped by Ding Wei with a look.
There was no trace of anger on her face, but instead she showed a calm smile. Under the dim sky, that smile had a calming power.
She ignored Thutmose's verbal probing and gave the order directly: "Open the carriage."
With one order, the accompanying guards took action immediately.
One heavy covered wagon after another was opened, and the scenes revealed made the pupils of Thutmose and the guards behind him shrink suddenly.
There was no gold, silver, or jewelry, no silk or satin, but instead mountains of winter clothes and herbs!
There were a total of five hundred sets of thick cotton winter clothes, boxes of precious herbs sorted by category and carefully wrapped in oilcloth, and even several barrels of liquor for cleaning wounds.
The soldiers behind Thutmose were in an uproar. They looked at the winter clothes, and their cloudy eyes flashed with disbelief.
Avaris is located on the edge of the desert, with a huge temperature difference between day and night, and the cold wind at night can freeze you to the bone marrow.
The thin leather armor they wore was already worn out, and many people could only rely on each other's body temperature to keep warm at night. Non-combat casualties remained high.
"General!" Ding Wei's voice was clear and firm, piercing through the whistling wind.
"I'm not here to spectate, much less to cause trouble for the soldiers. I'm here by Pharaoh's command to stand with you, my comrades, and defend this western frontier."
She got off the carriage, picked up a set of winter clothes herself, and handed it to a young soldier who was closest to her, whose lips were already frozen purple.
The soldier was stunned and stretched out his hands subconsciously. When his fingertips touched the thick and warm cloth, his rough hands trembled uncontrollably and his eyes instantly turned red.
This scene was like a heavy hammer, hitting Thutmose's heart hard.
He has fought on the battlefield for many years, so how could he not know the sufferings of the soldiers?
He repeatedly requested supplies from Thebes, but the response was always slow, and only one in ten of the supplies sent survived.
He couldn't understand how this princess who lived deep in the palace knew what was most lacking at the front line, and how she could carry such a huge amount of supplies across thousands of miles of desert without anyone noticing?
With a thump, the soldier who received the winter coat fell to his knees, his voice choked with sobs: "Thank you... Thank you, Your Highness!"
One, two... more and more soldiers knelt down spontaneously.
They may not understand politics, but they know who really cares about their life and death.
Thutmose's Adam's apple rolled, and the barrier in his heart collapsed at this moment.
He turned around abruptly, his sharp eyes sweeping over the guards behind him, then he strode up to Ding Wei. In the midst of the wind and sand, he resolutely knelt on one knee, his armor making a dull sound as it collided with the ground.
He lowered his proud head, his voice hoarse but filled with unprecedented respect: "Your Majesty, Thutmose, welcomes the princess into the city!"
That night, a storm suddenly arose.
A sandstorm more violent than that in the daytime swept across the entire desert. Visibility was less than three feet. The tent was rustling in the wind, as if it would be torn apart at any time.
In this pitch-black darkness, a faint flicker of fire appeared in the direction of the Hittite enemy camp southeast of the fortress, and then quickly went out.
"Report--" A spy rushed into Thutmose's tent, his voice urgent.
"General! The Hittites are making unusual movements! A small group of them is taking advantage of the sandstorm and heading towards our granary number three!"
Thutmose stood up suddenly and grabbed the scimitar at his side. "These despicable jackals! They actually tried to take advantage of the chaos to rob us! Pass my orders, gather the first and second cavalry divisions, follow me and attack, crush them in the sandstorm!"
"No!" A clear shout interrupted his plan.
Ding Wei had been standing at the door of the tent without her knowing. Even though Isis had covered her with a cloak, it was still unable to keep the wind and sand away from her.
She walked in quickly, staring directly into Thutmose's bloodshot eyes, which were filled with anger. She said flatly, "With such strong sandstorms, our vision is obstructed. If we attack rashly, both our army and the enemy will be blind, and we will surely suffer eight hundred casualties! Besides, how can you be sure this isn't a ploy to lure the enemy away from their mountain retreat?"
"Are we just going to watch them burn the granary?" Thutmose roared. Food is the lifeblood of the army, and he cannot take this risk.
"Of course not."
Ding Wei's eyes were terrifyingly calm. She walked to the military map and pointed her finger at an inconspicuous mark next to the granary.
"General, do you remember that there is an emergency tunnel under this granary left by the previous dynasty?"
Thutmose was stunned. The tunnel had been abandoned due to disrepair and he had never taken it seriously.
"We can turn their tactics against them."
Ding Wei spoke very fast and her thoughts were shockingly clear.
"Immediately clear the area near the tunnel exit and pour all the kerosene we have on the sand inside and around the tunnel exit, forming a pocket formation. Once the Hittites reach the granary and think they've succeeded, we'll seal the entrance and completely trap them in the tunnel."
She pulled out a roll of parchment from her bosom, on which were intricate lines and symbols drawn with charcoal.
"This is a wind direction chart deduced by the priests of Isis based on the stars and cloud maps."
She pointed to an arrow on the drawing.
"In two quarters of an hour, the wind will shift from northwest to southeast. We'll light a fire at the upper windward vent of the tunnel. The fire will take advantage of the wind and not only wipe them out, but also keep the fireworks within a specific range and prevent them from affecting the main part of the granary."
Thutmose looked at the incredibly accurate wind direction map, then looked at Ding Wei's confident and sharp eyes, and his heart was filled with shock.
This is no longer a simple strategy, but a prediction that is almost divine!
He was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but when he thought of Ding Wei's actions during the day, he finally gritted his teeth and chose to trust: "Okay! Let's do as the princess says!"
In the sandstorm, everything was happening silently.
As the spies had reported, the Hittite grain-robbery team avoided all the sentries and quietly sneaked into granary No. 3.
Just as they were feeling smug about their ability to remain unnoticed, they discovered that the granary was empty.
The captain's heart sank, thinking that something was wrong. Just as he was about to order a retreat, the ground beneath his feet suddenly softened, and he and his men fell into a huge trap.
Below the trap was the abandoned tunnel, which was now filled with the pungent smell of kerosene.
"Get started!"
High up in the fortress, Ding Wei personally pulled a specially made longbow, and a signal rocket wrapped in oilcloth whizzed into the night sky, drawing a brilliant arc in the sandstorm and accurately falling into the upwind side of the tunnel.
boom--!
The kerosene was ignited instantly and flames shot up into the sky.
The strong wind became the most terrifying accomplice, rolling up flames and burning yellow sand, turning into a long red flame snake, spreading wildly along the direction of the tunnel, swallowing up the entire Hittite team.
The screams and wails were instantly torn apart by the strong wind, leaving only the blazing flames, reflecting a crimson of death in the dark sandstorm.
After the fire, when counting the captives, a shocking discovery made Thutmose furious.
A Hittite officer who was burned half to death was wearing a ring with a scarab and cobra emblem on his finger - that was the emblem of the powerful Seti family of Thebes!
"Seti! It is the Seti family that is collaborating with the enemy!" Thutmose kicked over the brazier beside him, his roar almost drowning out the sound of the wind.
"I will report this to Pharaoh immediately and have these traitors torn into pieces!"
"General, calm down." Ding Wei shook her head and looked at the ring deeply.
"A ring doesn't mean anything. It can be stolen or forged. Without solid evidence, any rash action could alert the enemy and even lead to a real trap. First, secretly imprison the person and interrogate him strictly. This matter must not be made public."
Thutmose's anger was mostly extinguished by her calm words. He looked at the princess in front of him who was much younger than himself and felt sincere awe for the first time.
Her vision is much deeper and farther than mine.
The next morning, the sandstorm subsided and the sky was clear.
Ding Wei, dressed in military uniform, stood on the highest wall of Avaris.
She ordered all the Hittite captives who survived the night's hard fighting to be taken to the top of the wall and made to kneel facing the Hittite camp.
"Hittite generals, listen!" Ding Wei's voice was amplified through magic and clearly spread throughout the battlefield.
"We have received the so-called 'peace talks' envoys you sent! But the land of Egypt does not accept any hypocritical negotiations, only the goodwill of friends or the blood of enemies!"
She suddenly drew Thutmose's sword, pointing the tip toward the distant horizon. Her voice suddenly rose, filled with the sound of metal and stone: "Tell your master that Egypt is united, and we have the protection of the Pharaoh and the gods! Even if we have to wear sand as our battle robe and swear our oath with blood and soil, we will not retreat an inch!"
"No retreat! No retreat! No retreat!"
As soon as he finished speaking, tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers on and off the city walls seemed to be ignited in an instant. They raised their weapons high and roared in unison with all their strength.
The roar that gathered the faith of countless people was like thunder, shaking the desert, and even the clouds on the horizon seemed to tremble.
Thutmose looked at Ding Wei's slender back standing against the wind, which at this moment was more majestic than a mountain.
He took a deep breath, adjusted his armor, and knelt on one knee again. This time, he prostrated himself on the ground.
"From today onwards, the two hundred thousand soldiers of the three fortresses in the western border will obey the orders of the two kings!"
As the night deepened and the noise in the military camp gradually subsided.
Isis lit soothing incense and recorded everything that had happened that day on papyrus: "The princess patrolled the wounded camp at night, bandaging the soldiers' wounds herself, and did not return until daybreak..."
Suddenly, an extremely slight sound of breaking air broke the silence.
A completely black arrow without any markings flew over the camp wall silently like a ghost and accurately hit the pillar in front of Ding Wei's tent, with the tail of the arrow trembling slightly.
Isis was horrified and was about to shout for protection, but she saw Ding Wei standing in front of the tent with eyes as sharp as an eagle.
She signaled Isis to be silent, walked slowly forward, and pulled out the arrow.
On the tail of the arrow, there was a half-burned map fragment.
She carefully unfolded the map and looked at it carefully in the light of the tent.
What was drawn on it was actually a structural diagram of an area deep inside the Temple of Amun in Thebes. Next to a location marked with red ink, several ancient Egyptian characters were scribbled.
The moment she saw those words clearly, Ding Wei's pupils suddenly contracted and her breathing stopped.
That is - the location map of the "Black Fire Lamp" secretly hidden by Amenhotep IV!
She suddenly looked up and looked in the direction where the arrow came from.
At the top of the highest sand dune in the distance, a black shadow elongated by the moonlight flashed by, and then quietly merged into the boundless night, as if it had never appeared.
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