It was almost Qingming Festival, and it had been raining for days. The rain in the capital washed the ground and underground clean, and everywhere was full of lush vitality.

More than a month had passed since the Wei soldiers left the capital.

Near Jiuchuan is an endless desert.

"Lord He," the young deputy general walked into the tent and said to the female officer who was sitting on the ground drawing a map, "Your order to reduce the number of military stoves in the camp has been passed down."

He Yan smiled and said, "Thank you."

The deputy general looked at the woman in front of him, feeling a little emotional. The Suyue Army, who had followed General Feihong, was reluctant to learn that the leader was a young woman. Don't blame them for being picky. After following General Feihong of Wei, they couldn't help but compare other generals. He Yan, as a woman, dared to go to the battlefield, which was admirable. But in fact, she had never led troops to fight alone, and she didn't know how skilled she was. Even though they had won the battles in Rundu and Jiyang before, the governor of the right army was also in charge at that time.

Now, she is alone.

Fighting a war is different from a simple duel. Emperor Zhaokang may have done this for the sake of the commander of the right army. But the people inside the appeasement army were not really convinced.

They had only been in Jiuchuan for a short time in the past month. Jiuchuan was originally a city in the desert, and now it was occupied by the Wutuo people. When He Yan arrived at Jiuchuan, he was not in a hurry to launch an attack, but instead camped near Jiuchuan. After several days, the soldiers had already complained.

But the deputy general knew that the truth was not as people saw.

He was in the Fuyue Army before, and although he could not get close to the former General Feihong, he knew that General Feihong was daring and daring. The woman in front of him, had not yet shown her brave side, but was more rational and calm.

The location of the camp was chosen just right. This position can be used for attack or defense. It is also in a windy place, so if there is any movement, it is convenient to adjust and retreat. The deputy general was a little surprised. He asked around and found that He Yan was also in Jiuchuan for the first time, but he seemed to be very familiar with the terrain here and had a lot of experience in how to survive in the desert.

Of course, he had no idea that He Yan was the former "General Feihong", and that General Feihong first followed the Suyue Army to fight against the Western Qiang people in Mo County. Mo County was not far from Jiuchuan, and the terrain was similar.

"Sir," the deputy general's eyes fell on the long scroll in front of He Yan, "Are you drawing a map of the emperor?"

"These Wutuo people have a strong force and have been planning for a long time. Although the Pacification Army has been training every day, it has not been on the battlefield for several years. In addition, they suffered heavy losses in the previous battle of Huayuan and their forces are inferior to their opponents. I cannot attack rashly and ignore the lives of these soldiers. Before that, we must know ourselves and the enemy, and we will never be in danger in a hundred battles."

Every day, she asked Shitou Wangba and his men to explore the area outside Jiuchuan City from a distance. They didn't need to go too close. After they had a good understanding of the terrain nearby, they would go deeper. After a few days, they finally drew a complete map. With this map, the Yue army, which was originally outnumbered by the Wutu people, could exert its maximum strength.

But... He Yan sighed in her heart. She knew that the Wutuo people had been recuperating for many years and their military equipment must be strong. But it was not until she arrived in Jiuchuan that she found that the Wutuo people's troops were stronger than she had imagined. If it was only Jiuchuan, it would be fine. If the other three places were the same, this battle in Wei would be really difficult to fight.

Over the years, Emperor Wenxuan has emphasized civil affairs over military affairs, and the Wei army has stagnated, which has given the Wutuo people an advantage. It seems that Huayuan, Rundu, and even Jiyang were just a cover, and the Wutuo people did not show their real military strength, but were just to make them relax their vigilance.

Yes, if not, how could these four cities fall so quickly?

"My Lord, hurry up and prepare the imperial decree, and also take care of your health." The deputy general thought for a moment, and finally reminded him, "My Lord, you have slept very little in the past few days..."

"It's okay. I know what's going on." He Yan continued without raising his head.

Seeing her like this, the deputy general had nothing to say and bowed and retreated.

After he left, someone called out from outside, "Master He."

He Yan: "Come in."

The two people who came in were Jiang Jiao and Shitou.

Outside, they also called He Yan "Master He" like other soldiers. After all, He Yan had not yet been promoted to a general. But in private, they still liked to call He Yan "Brother He."

The two of them were careful and steady in their work. In the current Suyue Army, the elite were destroyed by He Rufei, so there were not many people available. He Yan handed over some important matters to Shitou and the others.

She raised her head, looked at the two approaching, and asked, "Have you found out what the Uto people are doing?"

Jiang Jiao replied, "At night, a group of Wutuo people went out of the city to investigate, but they did not approach our camp. They just checked the area and left. We did as Brother He said and did not chase them. But there has been no movement in the past two days." He asked, "Brother He, do we still want to wait?"

"Wait." He Yan said in a deep voice: "We won't take the initiative to attack the city, let them chase us."

"Luring the enemy?" Jiang Jiao was stunned. "But if they really take the initiative to attack us, won't we be at a disadvantage? After all, the Utuo people have more soldiers and horses than we do."

"Don't worry," He Yan smiled, "Those Wutuo people are cunning and suspicious. They will never let all the troops leave the city. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to camp here for so many days without any harm. They sent spies out at night to check the situation. They just wanted to find out our bottom line."

He Yan stood up and walked to the wooden plate in the tent. There were many small hills piled up with sand in the wooden plate. There were rice grains marking the hills. She picked up a branch nearby and pointed it out to the two people. "Besides, where we are camping, we will pass through the canyon when we retreat. The Wutuo people are afraid that we have set an ambush on the road behind us, so of course we dare not act rashly."

"I have fought with the Utuo people in Jiyang and Rundu before. If Maka and Huyat's people spread the news back to Utuo, the Utuo leader of Jiuchuan should have heard of my name. But he is not sure whether I will really lead the troops. He despises me in his heart, but because of the incident in Rundu and Jiyang, he dare not despise me. What do you think he will do?"

"What?" Jiang Jiao was puzzled.

"He will try to prove that I'm not capable, and after finding evidence, he will look down on me with good reason." He Yan smiled, "Although I don't quite understand why General Wu Tuo is always like this, but since they want to see a woman who is only in name but can't lead troops, then I will show them what they want to see."

"So," the silent Stone's eyes lit up, "those military supplies..."

"We have been camping here for a few days but have not made any moves. The Wutuo people will suspect that we are cheating, so they will send soldiers out at night to investigate. If I were a Wutuo person, I would definitely think that it must be because the enemy's army is led by a woman, and the soldiers are dissatisfied and afraid of the Wutuo soldiers in Jiuchuan, so many soldiers have become deserters. This is why I underestimate the enemy."

"When they let down their guard and lead their troops deep into the enemy territory, we can set up an ambush."

Jiang Jiao was excited at first, then he thought of something and spoke hesitantly: "But Brother He, didn't you say that the people of Wutuo are cunning and suspicious, and will never let all the troops leave the city..."

"Yes," He Yan looked at him, "So the troops they sent out should only be a part of them, and we only want to destroy this part. If they really dare to attack with their entire army, we will be at a disadvantage."

"Have you ever thought about catching them all in one fell swoop?" Shitou asked doubtfully.

He Yan patted his shoulder and said, "You have never been on a real battlefield, so you don't know that a real war can't be ended overnight. The Wutuo people are much better than us in terms of military strength, so don't use your own weaknesses to attack their strengths. I didn't intend to fight them head-on, but to lure them in and destroy some of the enemy troops, which would be enough to damage the morale of these Wutuo people. After that, we can slowly make plans."

"If you want to win a war, you must be patient and calm, and only then can you make it to the end." He Yan smiled slightly, "This has just begun."

Jiang Jiao and Shitou looked at the armored woman in front of them. When they were in Liangzhou Guard in the past, they already knew that she was very skilled and intelligent. But now when she stood here, leading a group of soldiers and slowly spreading the net, they slowly and truly understood her abilities.

"Brother He," Jiang Jiao joked, "You only fought in Jiyang one more time than us, why do you seem to be so familiar with it?"

"That's different." The woman smiled slightly, "As for me, I was born to fight."

There was a wind blowing outside, blowing yellow sand in the desert everywhere, and the flags fluttered, looking even more desolate.

Shitou murmured, "Ji County is not far from here. I wonder what's going on with General Yan?"

"Ji Jun..." He Yan's eyes became heavy.

I heard that the plague has spread there.

…

The fields outside the city and along the river were filled with piles of corpses.

A group of soldiers were digging a deep pit. Xuxu looked inside and saw corpses wrapped in white cloth. The pit was already emitting a foul smell. At first glance, it looked like hell on earth.

There was a shed made of thatched grass with coarse cloth spread on the ground. Dozens of people were lying flat on the ground. They were all dying, with signs of decay on their bodies. A young man was boiling medicine nearby, stirring the herbs in a huge vat with a large iron spoon from time to time.

He was not very strong, and stirring the herbs in the huge vat was already very strenuous. Soon, beads of sweat had already seeped out of his forehead, but he did not intend to be lazy from beginning to end. His snow-white robe had long been stained with mud and blood. His hand, which had always held a folding fan, was either holding a silver needle for treating illnesses or a bowl of life-saving medicine these days.

The plague in Ji County is more serious than expected.

After the Wutuo people occupied Ji County, they slaughtered civilians and looted women. A large number of dead bodies were thrown into the river at will. It was spring again, and plague soon broke out. The Wutuo people directly drove out all the surviving Wei people in the city and left them to fend for themselves. When Lin Shuanghe and Yan He arrived in Ji County, the fields outside the city were full of piles of corpses.

Lin Shuanghe considered himself a doctor and was accustomed to seeing life and death. However, when he first arrived here, he couldn't help but be shocked by the tragedy here.

Yan He's troops will be used to deal with the Wutuo people. There are not many military doctors here. He is the grandson of Lin Qingtan. Everyone originally advised him not to personally contact these patients. What if he was infected with the plague... However, Lin Shuanghe did not listen to these kind opinions. If he was afraid of death, he would not have chosen to come here in the first place.

The dead civilians could not be buried on the spot, so they could only be burned and buried in a deep pit after turning into bones. This was the best solution. Even so, the cries of the surviving family members could still be heard every day.

He scooped the cooked medicine soup into broken bowls and left them out to dry. After they had cooled a little, he took them up and brought them to the straw shed to feed the patients.

He was originally a very particular young man, always a little vain, even in Shuojing City, when he treated female patients, he would smile more brilliantly when he saw a cute one with gorgeous clothes. But now, the patients here have a strange smell, are dirty and ugly, but he does not dislike it at all.

The patient that Lin Shuanghe helped up was a woman, who should be still very young, but whose appearance was plain, even a little too plump. Lin Shuanghe scooped up a spoonful of medicine soup and put it to her lips. She drank it carefully, looking at the gentle and handsome young man in front of her, her face slightly blushed, as if even the pain in her body was relieved a little.

"Doctor Lin, I can do it myself." She said in a low voice.

"That won't do," Lin Shuanghe said sternly, "How can I let a beautiful girl drink the medicine herself? After all, I am a gentleman who cherishes women."

The patients in the straw hut all smiled kindly upon hearing this.

Doctor Lin was good-looking and had a good temperament. He was different from the ferocious general who always had a stern face. He was always smiling. He was in the mood to joke with everyone and talk about everything. Although no one could see tomorrow morning and it was such a tense and sad moment, his attitude never changed. With him around, the atmosphere was much more relaxed, as if it was no different from the past. It seemed that when I woke up, Ji County was still the same Ji County as before, and everything could be easily solved.

After feeding the patients all the medicine in the straw shed, Lin Shuanghe told them to have a good rest before picking up all the bowls and taking them away.

He rinsed the bowl he had just used to drink medicine in with boiling water, then stopped and rubbed his shoulders, finally having a chance to examine himself. However, when he saw the stains all over his body, he was stunned for a while and simply gave up.

The truth was that all the white robes he brought were made into cloths to bandage the wounds of the patients. Now, this was the last piece of clothing, and he had no other white robes to replace it.

Lin Shuanghe walked to the other end.

The troops brought by Yan He fought several times with the Wutuo people, with some victories and some defeats. The terrain outside Ji County was complicated, and the Wutuo people were inside the city, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack, so the war was temporarily stagnant. Fortunately, Yan He himself was not affected by this incident, and he looked in good spirits and his morale was high. Moreover, the plague has been slightly controlled now, and the panic has not continued to spread. Although this battle is not easy to fight for a while, things are moving in a little better direction.

Last night, a surprise attack was launched, and the Wei army won a small victory. There were many new casualties, and some soldiers were killed in the battle. The dead soldiers were buried on the spot. Lin Shuanghe asked other military doctors to treat the wounded first, and he took over the most dangerous plague patients.

At this moment, some lightly injured soldiers were sitting and talking by the river in front of the tent, and Yan He was sitting on the ground without any image, drinking water.

Lin Shuanghe walked over with tired steps and spread his hands in front of Yan He.

Yan He was puzzled and waved his hand away: "What are you doing?"

"General Yan," Lin Shuanghe licked his lips, "I have been busy treating patients until now, and you didn't even leave me a bowl of wild vegetable soup. I am almost starving to death, you should at least give me some food."

Yan He rolled his eyes at him, took out a dry cake from his pocket and threw it into his hand, "Eat it, eat it, you won't choke to death."

If it were usual, Lin Shuanghe would definitely fight with him for it, but today he really had no strength and was very hungry, so he sat down and took a big bite.

The dry biscuits were dry and hard to swallow. They didn’t taste very good. Lin Shuanghe choked. Yan He looked at him with disdain and handed him the water bottle. “Are you the reincarnation of a starving ghost?”

Lin Shuanghe quickly took the water bottle and took a big gulp. After swallowing the dry biscuit in his mouth, he said, "Brother, I haven't eaten all day today. Being a prisoner is more than that. Not only do you not have the slightest sympathy, you even scold me. Are you a human being?"

Yan He looked at the ferocious look of the man opposite him and subconsciously wanted to say something harsh to him, but when he saw his stained clothes, he swallowed the ridicule that was about to come out of his mouth.

Well, to be honest, Lin Shuanghe's trip was really beyond his expectations. Yan He originally thought that although Lin Shuanghe had been to Liangzhou Guard before, Liangzhou Guard had not fought a war, and at least he lived in the guardhouse and was not subject to the sufferings of the world. If he really arrived in Ji County, this spoiled young man would definitely cry and scream. Unexpectedly, from the beginning to now, Lin Shuanghe did not say a word.

Although he did not fight with the Uthos in the front line, it was not an easy task to take care of the wounded soldiers and comfort the civilians frightened by the plague.

And it's dangerous.

Yan He snorted and did not answer.

Lin Shuanghe took a few more bites of dry biscuits and drank some water. The food and drink filled his stomach and he felt less uncomfortable and energetic again. He looked at Yan He and said, "Yan Nanguang, I have suffered a lot here. When we return to Shuojing, you must report my achievements here to the emperor truthfully. At least give me a position. I have never suffered such hardships since I was a child. What kind of biscuits are these? In the past, I would not even eat my dog."

This person started talking nonsense after coming back to life. Yan He sneered, "No one here forces you to eat. Besides, I haven't seen you suffer any hardship. It's already this hour, and you still have the mood to joke and have fun with women. Lin Shuanghe, you really can't change your habit of flirting with women wherever you go."

"Don't make it sound like you're all righteous and arrogant," Lin Shuanghe scolded him, "You have a wife and children, and I'm still alone. How can I know which girl is my destiny? We have to try it out. You hanged yourself on a tree a long time ago, and you're jealous of others picking flowers and smelling grass. Are you sick?"

Yan He was about to refute when a soldier passing by asked in surprise, "General Yan, you have a child?"

Yan He glared at Lin Shuanghe, who coughed lightly. Xia Chengxiu's pregnancy had not yet been announced. But now that someone had heard about it, there was no reason to deny it. Yan He said, "It's not born yet, it's in my wife's belly."

The soldier looked to be in his thirties, with a dark complexion and a simple and honest look. Hearing this, he also sat down and rubbed his head: "That's great, when the general finishes the battle and returns, he will be able to see the child. Just like me in my time."

"You?" Yan He asked, "Do you have a child?"

"Nonsense," Lin Shuanghe couldn't help but say, "Do you think you are the only one in the world who can be a father?"

The man scratched his head and smiled, "Yes, there are two. The older one is three years old, and the younger one is just one month old. This time when I went back, I wanted to spend more time with my wife, but I didn't expect the Wutuo people to come... I told my wife that after the war, when I get back and get the salary, I will make a silver collar for my younger son. And my eldest daughter, when I left, she cried so hard that my heart was broken..."

Yan He has never been an approachable person, because of his noble birth and proud temperament. Even when interacting with his subordinates, he is always a bit arrogant. But today, because of the identity of this man as his "father", he rarely said a few more words to him.

He asked, "Do you have a close relationship with your daughter? You live in a military camp and don't go home often, do you? How can she be close to you?"

Lin Shuanghe was puzzled: "Are you seeking the experience of others for the troubles you may encounter in the future?"

Yan He scolded him, "Shut up." Then he looked at the man in front of him eagerly, "Speak quickly."

"That... I don't know either." Hanzi was a little confused. "I do go home seldom, but every time I go home, I remember to bring her her favorite maltose, buy her beautiful cloth, and ask my wife to make new clothes for her. General Yan, don't worry. People say that girls love their fathers very much. If the general's wife gives birth to a daughter, the little girl will definitely be very close to General Yan."

Yan He was overjoyed by what he said, but then his expression became serious again, "What if it's a son?"

"Isn't that better?" The man said, "The general can take the young master with him, and they can fight together as father and son without having to separate them."

Yan He suddenly realized and looked at the man in front of him: "I didn't expect that you, as a father, would be so smart."

Lin Shuanghe was speechless when he heard this.

The man received the compliment from his boss and smiled innocently for a while, then suddenly fell silent. After a moment, he sighed, "My little girl kept hugging my legs when she left. I know she was afraid that I would die on the battlefield. If," he looked at the sky in the distance, "she could come back alive, I would definitely buy her her favorite candy cake."

Yan He was stunned for a moment, and after a moment, he also looked into the distance.

The sky was dyed red by the setting sun, the remaining sun was as red as blood, and the fields were gentle and silent.

"Don't worry," he said, "she will definitely be able to eat the cakes you bought."