The weather in Rongcheng is like a steamer. It is so hot that people cannot hide and can only stand there and watch. Some soldiers who are afraid of heat have already suffered from heatstroke.
Rong Chengxuan told them: "There is a border between Xizhou and Beichen. Although this border looks insignificant on the map, it separates Beichen and Xizhou like a tropical barrier."
"When you first arrive, you might find the heat in Cizhou and the borderlands bearable. However, once you enter Western Zhou territory, the heat is unbearable. Western Zhou, like the Western Regions, is located in the tropics, and it's still summer, so it's naturally hotter than our Beichen. So the closer we get to Western Zhou territory, the hotter it will be."
The term "tropical region" was mentioned by Yun Wanwan when Rong Chengxuan was chatting with her a few days ago. Yun Wanwan said that once they passed Shizhou, the climate would probably become hotter. After they completely reached the territory of Western Zhou, the soldiers of Beichen might not be able to adapt to the climate.
Obviously, Yun Wanwan's worries were correct, but fortunately, Rong Chengxuan had already prepared a solution because of Yun Wanwan's reminder. He found several local doctors with decent medical skills to serve as military doctors. These doctors were obviously best at treating heatstroke.
Rong Chengxuan paused, then continued, "The reason I chose to rush to attack Rongcheng last night was to take advantage of the cooler night. Taking the city before you're overwhelmed by the heat and fall ill will serve as a deterrent to the Western Zhou. It also gives our army a period of rest and recuperation. We must quickly adapt to this climate during this time so that when we enter Western Zhou territory, we won't be defeated before the battle even begins."
When Rong Chengxuan said this, people were not particularly convinced by his statement. Although it was unbearable to do so, it was impossible for it to be so hot that they could not go to the battlefield to fight.
However, their thoughts did not last long. By noon, a large number of soldiers had begun to suffer from diarrhea, fever, heatstroke, and some even fainted. This included Rong Chengxuan himself.
When Yun Wanwan told him about it, he hadn't imagined it could be this hot. When he finally realized it, Rong Chengxuan collapsed. Fortunately, Rong Chengxuan's foresight prevented the army's heatstroke before it could fully erupt.
The military doctors were divided into two teams, one team was responsible for taking care of the soldiers who had already developed heatstroke, and the other team was responsible for preparing Chinese medicine to relieve the heat for the soldiers who had not yet developed heatstroke.
The Western Zhou Dynasty was adjacent to the Western Regions, but the Western Regions were deeper in the desert than the Western Zhou Dynasty. The Western Zhou Dynasty was closer to the desert, just on the edge. However, the hot climate was enough to give Beichen's army a hard time.
Because the Western Zhou Dynasty was established on the edge of the desert, its territory was naturally not comparable to that of the Western Regions, but it was still much larger than other cities in the desert. There were a total of twenty cities, and the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty was in the southern part of the desert, behind the eighth city.
After staying in Rongcheng for half a month, Rong Chengxuan reorganized his troops and took back the cities captured by the Western Zhou Dynasty in one go. Rong Chengxuan even took advantage of the soldiers' good condition and let them capture the first city of the Western Zhou Dynasty - Shaping City.
The closest city to Beichen in Western Zhou is Shaping City. Although it is located on the edge of the land, once you enter the territory of Western Zhou, no matter which city it is, it is surrounded by loess inside and outside the city.
However, because Shaping City is close to Beichen, most of the ground in the city is paved with blue bricks. These blue bricks are obviously imported from Beichen. This is to prevent strong winds from blowing yellow soil all over the city. People in the city cannot go out at all and can only wait until the wind stops and the yellow soil settles down before they can go out.
Every city and every country built in the desert is built along the river. It can be said that the people in the desert are very sensitive and accurate in finding water sources, and they depend on these water sources for survival.
To protect their water resources, almost all city-states built moats within their cities, and heavily guarded the waterways. It could be said that water was the foundation of the lives of the residents of the desert kingdoms, and it was a matter of utmost importance.
Although the Western Zhou Dynasty was built on the edge of the desert, it was obviously suffering from severe water shortage. It could not conquer the Western Regions, and even if it did, it would still be in the desert. There was still no significant solution to the water problem.
Therefore, the Western Zhou monarchs had no choice but to set their sights on Beichen. Beichen was located in the Central Plains, not only had a vast territory but also was not short of supplies. Most importantly, Beichen valued civil affairs over military affairs. The court had few capable generals, and the frontier armies were like paper, easily defeated by a single blow.
With this in mind, the king of Western Zhou set his goal to have Beichen destroy his country.
There was also a river in Shaping, the first city Rong Chengxuan conquered. It was the mother river of the people of Shaping. In fact, the people of Shaping did not have much aversion to Beichen's occupation of them.
They lived close to Beichen. When the Western Zhou Dynasty was a vassal state of Beichen, trade between the two countries was very frequent. There were always merchants from Beichen coming to Shaping City to purchase their local specialties, such as fruits and spices unique to the desert.
Merchants from the Western Zhou Dynasty would also travel to Shizhou, Lanzhou, Cizhou and other places, bringing back clothing from Beichen, as well as vegetables and grains that were scarce in the desert. It can be said that most of the food the people in Shaping City ate was exchanged from Beichen.
Although their understanding of Beichen was limited to this borderland, it was enough to satisfy their longing for the interior of Beichen. They envied the people of Beichen, envying them for being able to live in such a beautiful place from the moment they were born.
Now Shaping City is also under the jurisdiction of Beichen, which means that they are also the people of Beichen and are qualified to set foot in the inland of Beichen that they have always dreamed of.
After Rong Chengxuan's army entered the city, they did not destroy the buildings, nor did they persecute the people.
Apart from the turmoil caused by the fleeing Western Zhou army and the city walls blown up when Rong Chengxuan entered the city, the city was almost the same as when Rong Chengxuan arrived.
Rong Chengxuan did not let the Divine Fire Camp bomb Shaping City at will when attacking it because he was concerned about the innocent people in Shaping City.
It was not necessarily what the Western Zhou Dynasty wanted to attack Beichen, and Rong Chengxuan had some understanding of the Western Zhou people in Shaping City from the people he met along the way.
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