The blizzard outside Iron Lion City did not stop despite the truce between the two sides. It not only continued to rage all night, but even into the morning of the next day, the blizzard showed no sign of abating.
On the battlefield yesterday, the hundreds of thousands of corpses left by soldiers from both sides were also covered by thick snow.
Cao Tingjin, the commander-in-chief of the Western Expedition Army, was relieved to see that the blizzard had not stopped. He immediately ordered the troops of the Western Expedition Army to retreat to Hongshi City.
Cao Tingjin personally led the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army and walked at the end, ready to resist the pursuit of the coalition forces at any time.
Red Stone City was originally a large city in the eastern part of Gule State, with a population of about 150,000 to 160,000. It was about 60 miles away from Iron Lion City and was famous for its abundant production of rubies.
Sun Hao originally hoped to bury the bodies of the fallen soldiers of the left and right guards of the Western Region Army and then lead his troops to retreat to Red Stone City.
But he saw that the snow was more than a foot high and yesterday's battlefield had turned into a vast expanse of white. He had no choice but to give up the plan of burying the bodies of the fallen soldiers and led the remnants of the left and right guards of the Western Region Army to retreat to Red Stone City.
Perhaps because the blizzard had not stopped, the coalition forces discovered that the Liang State's Western Expedition Army had begun to retreat, and did not send a large number of cavalry to pursue it, but only sent some scouts to follow behind from a distance.
Although Red Stone City can be considered a large city, its walls built with rammed earth are less than five meters high on average.
However, when the Western Expedition Army retreated to Red Stone City, they found that the city walls of Red Stone City had been covered with a layer of ice armor, and the height of the battlements had increased by at least one meter.
Sun Hao was very aware of the importance of Red Stone City, so he left Qin Qiong in Red Stone City and let Qin Qiong be responsible for the defense of Red Stone City. The current ice city wall was built by Qin Qiong.
The left and right guards of Ganyang Army and the left, front and south guards of Huaide Army only rested in Hongshi City for one night and set out on their return journey early the next morning.
Before leaving, Sun Zhe saw that Sun Hao was determined to stay, so he stopped trying to persuade him. He just told Sun Hao that after he returned to Suide County, he would try his best to collect some food and supplies and send them to Sun Hao.
Before parting, Sun Zhe could not help but repeatedly remind Sun Hao that if things became impossible, Sun Hao must not act on impulse and must find a way to escape back to Pizhou.
As long as people are alive, there will be a chance to rebuild the Western Regions Protectorate in the future.
Standing on the wooden frame of the city wall, gazing at the receding backs of the soldiers from Ganyang and Huaide armies, Sun Hao couldn't help revealing a trace of melancholy on his face.
From now on, you can only rely on yourself!
Sun Hao then turned to Qin Qiong beside him and said, "This wooden frame is well made, and it's quite stable to stand on.
Are all these wooden frames prepared on the four city walls?"
Since the battlements of the ice city wall were more than one meter higher than before, in order not to affect the sight and attack angle of the soldiers defending the city, Qin Qiong designed a wooden frame with a height of one meter and a width of about two meters.
The wooden frame was covered with wooden boards so that the soldiers defending the city could stand on them.
Qin Qiong hurriedly said, "Don't worry, my lord. I have organized the soldiers and civilians in the city and have already made all the wooden frames and planks needed for the four walls. I have also made some extra so that you can keep them as a backup.
In addition, in accordance with the lord's orders, I have sent people to inform the defenders of those small cities, asking them to take the people and food in the city and move to the nearby big city.
The garrisons, population, and food supplies of the three small towns near Red Stone City have all been transferred to the interior of Red Stone City."
Since Sun Hao took over as the military guard of Ganyang Army, the brave generals and soldiers under his command all changed their way of addressing Sun Hao as their lord.
Sun Hao stopped being pretentious and gladly accepted the new title.
Now the Protectorate of the Western Regions actually occupies 46 cities, but many of them are small cities with only more than 10,000 people, or 20,000 to 30,000 people.
So, at the suggestion of his aide Guo Chong, Sun Hao decided to transfer the troops, population and food supplies from some small cities to larger cities nearby, including Hongshi City, and finally selected ten cities to defend.
The defenders of the other nine cities were Yu Juluo, Han Qinhu, Shi Wansui, He Ruobi, Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Qin Ming, Hu Yanzhuo and Dong Ping.
In these nine cities, there are also some Wei Wuzu and Qin Ruishi drawn from the original Ganyang Army Guards, serving as captains and deputy captains of each infantry battalion.
According to Sun Hao's conservative estimate, each of these nine cities can gather at least 7,000 to 8,000 defenders. Add to that the mobilized Liang people and the ice city walls built with water, and they will be able to hold out for a while.
Moreover, as long as the Red Stone City is not breached, the coalition forces, mainly composed of the Gule Army, should not send too many troops to attack the other nine cities by detour.
"Have all the seized gold and silver coins been transported here?" Sun Hao suddenly lowered his voice and asked Qin Qiong.
Qin Qiong nodded and said, "The gold and silver coins seized from various cities, as well as some gold and silver utensils, have basically all been transported to Hongshi City. I have had those coins and gold and silver utensils temporarily stored in a house."
On January 1st of this year, Sun Hao signed a "Tough Guy Converter" through an annual signing opportunity given by the "Annual Signing System".
The fact that Sun Hao dared to lead the remnants of the left and right guards of the Western Region Army to defend Red Stone City was also related to this "Brave General Converter".
The Warrior Converter can use gold or silver to convert the Warriors that have been signed by the "Annual Signing System".
Currently, from the "Brave General Converter", you can exchange for Wei Wuzu Hundred-Man General, Qin Ruishi Hundred-Man General, Modao Hand Hundred-Man General, Black Armor Cavalry Hundred-Man General, Beiwei Cavalry Hundred-Man General, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry Hundred-Man General and Xiliang Iron Cavalry Hundred-Man General.
Among them, each of the Wei Wuzu Hundred-Man Commander and the Qin Ruishi Hundred-Man Commander requires three hundred taels of gold or three thousand taels of silver, which is 300 points of conversion value.
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