Chapter 694 A Dream of Youth 226
The strategist had actually tried to dissuade them several times, but because of the successive victories, the morale of the Great Zhou army had soared, and if he continued to say such things, it would easily dampen their spirits.
The Grand Steward, caught up in the excitement, might not listen. So he had planned to wait a couple of days, and if Lingzhou City held firm and they couldn't take it after a long siege, he would risk his life to persuade the Grand Steward to leave.
If they don't leave now, their entire army will probably be trapped here and die.
It was winter, and even with the new uniforms that greatly enhanced the soldiers' resistance to the cold, they would starve to death sooner or later without food.
They couldn't find food in the surrounding counties, let alone land in the dead of winter. Although it wasn't completely barren, it was almost completely desolate.
"Then send soldiers to quickly attack the city, and send a detachment to take the Seven-Level Canal. Where's Tu Si? Call him over!"
Once Lingzhou City is occupied, even if the Seven-Level Canal is breached, it won't be a problem. However, if Lingzhou City is not occupied, he can only hope to capture the Seven-Level Canal. If neither of these is achieved, he will have no choice but to retreat.
He couldn't let tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of soldiers drown alive.
After saying this, the chief steward buried himself in his desk and wrote a military report. He needed to tell the others the news, to warn them to be careful and not to be arrogant or delve too deeply into things.
One of the letters was addressed to Jin An, the only eunuch commander among them.
Although this person came from the palace and was a palace attendant, Fu Yao still recognized his military capabilities, especially since this person was cautious by nature. With him keeping the army at bay, the army would certainly not venture too far.
It's unknown where Jin'an is now, or whether they've captured Lanzhou yet.
There was another letter addressed to General Xu Linnian. Fu Yao was somewhat taken aback by this colleague, as Xu Linnian and Jin An had a long-standing feud.
Although Jin'an had good military capabilities and had governed the northwest well in recent years, he was still a eunuch by birth, which made him looked down upon.
In this battle, Jin An's position is above Xu Linnian's, and it is unknown whether they will have any conflicts.
Xie Ning bowed and withdrew. As he passed the body that had been carried over, he paused and said, "Prepare his body properly."
Perhaps his relatives are still looking for him.
Once Xie Ning had left, the strategist in the tent finally asked, "Grand Commander, what about the envoy?"
Chief Steward Fu didn't even look up. "What envoy?"
The strategist immediately understood and went to handle the matter. Hmm, they hadn't seen any envoy. Perhaps the envoy was intercepted by Xili's army on the way?
Liu Yuanchang, standing at the east gate of Lingzhou City, glanced at the message brought by the messenger and made a decision. He immediately sent men in shifts to gradually expand the occupied area.
After all, there's only one main street here, so fighting is quite difficult. Taking turns attacking allows some soldiers to get some rest.
Xie Ning had just returned on horseback, and the medical staff were swamped with activity. All the soldiers who were injured but could still move, except for those with broken legs, were helping out. Those who couldn't move the wounded were brewing medicine, or treating the simple wounds of the newly brought-back soldiers one by one.
They can treat minor injuries themselves as long as they have medicine.
As Xie Ning watched the medicinal herbs disappear in a flash, her heart ached more and more. She didn't know when the next batch of herbs would arrive. If Doctor Du came, she would definitely go and cry to him and try to get some herbs back.
Xie Ning had been busy from dusk until dawn the next day. She had only been sleeping for less than an hour while holding Xueqiu when she was shaken awake by the old military doctor with bloodshot eyes.
"Master Xie, it's your turn." The old man needed a good rest, and after saying that, he closed his eyes and soon began to snore, clearly exhausted.
Xie Ning sat there blankly for a while before getting up to continue changing the bandages for the wounded soldiers or treating new wounded soldiers.
Snowball, its ears twitching, followed Xie Ning closely. It didn't participate in the war, but simply followed Xie Ning step by step to protect her, occasionally running off to hunt and adding some meat to Xie Ning and the others' meals.
The soldiers were almost driven mad with envy. They would occasionally try to hunt wild prey, but it was often difficult to catch anything, as prey tended to hide in winter.
Unexpectedly, the white wolf, which they raised like a puppy, not only didn't have to worry about its food, but also brought back two prey animals every day.
At this time, Deputy Chief Steward Liu had also stayed up all night, but he was still quite energetic. Hearing the battle report from the front, he raised the corner of his mouth and said, "They've moved forward thirty feet? Not bad. Continue to occupy the alleys on both sides and set up checkpoints."
The army in Lingzhou City was indeed well-trained and had the advantage of being at ease, but their morale was no match for that of the enemy. After all, one side was suffering repeated defeats while the other was advancing triumphantly.
Not to mention he brought his archer squad over to fight, giving him a clear advantage in weaponry.
After fighting day and night, Zhou Jun was full of blood and energy, and his fierce spirit was extremely intimidating. Against the Xili army, whose morale was already low, he simply crushed them.
As a result, Xili not only failed to reclaim even an inch of the street, but was also pushed back another ten zhang by the Zhou army, which angered the governor of Lingzhou City so much that he smashed countless things.
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