Chapter 238 The Eve of the Expedition
Xie Tingzhou wanted to keep her, but also wanted to let her go.
He was tormented by this dilemma. All the decisiveness and killing became empty talk at this moment. He was just a husband.
"Do we have to go?" Xie Tingzhou asked.
The sound of horse hooves was neither fast nor slow.
Chen Yu tilted her head slightly, still unable to see his expression, so she turned her head back.
"Do you want to go horse racing?" she asked.
Before Xie Tingzhou could answer, Chen Yu said, "How about we have a race to see who gets home first?"
Xie Tingzhou thought for a moment, "What about the bet?"
"Let's bet on whether I will go to Yanliang Pass." Chen Yu whistled after saying this.
Ben Xiao approached and she jumped on him.
Xie Tingzhou was still untying his cloak, "Put on the cloak..."
She gave him a sly smile under the moonlight, but Ben Xiao had already rushed out first, leaving her voice in the wind.
"The cloak is in the way, put it on yourself--"
Xie Tingzhou smiled, raised his whip and chased after him.
An eagle's cry was heard in the sky, and a white feather soared into the sky. Its wings crossed the blue-black sky and rushed forward in the night.
Chen Yu crouched low on the horse's back.
The night wind from the north is very cold and strong, somewhat similar to that at Yanliang Pass.
At one moment, she seemed to have traveled through time and space to arrive there.
The horses' hooves trampled on the piles of corpses, splashing blood. The blood splashed over the horses' hooves, trying to drag her in, just like in every nightmare.
The cold wind whistled in her ears, and the sound of horse hooves behind her pulled her back.
She looked back and saw Xie Tingzhou closely following her, from being half a horse's length away to running neck and neck with her.
They looked at each other on horseback and were approaching the city gate.
The guards on the city wall had seen the two men running side by side and the goshawk overhead.
"Open the door! The prince and princess are back!"
The two riders rode side by side through the city, and the palace was already in sight.
Xie Tingzhou turned his head and looked at her deeply, and the horse under his crotch gradually slowed down.
Chen Yu reined in her horse in front of the palace gate, the horse's hooves raised in the cold wind, it neighed, and stopped steadily.
"You win." Xie Tingzhou rode his horse slowly over.
Chen Yu looked at him, not knowing what to say. She understood what Xie Tingzhou meant.
He used this method to replace his answer. It was so difficult to make the decision, but he did it after all.
Xie Tingzhou got off the horse and stretched out his hands to her, "Are you cold? I'll carry you in."
Chen Yu leaned over and crashed into his arms,
She hugged his neck tightly.
Surprisingly, they did nothing tonight.
Chen Yu sat on the low couch by the window, leaning against it with her hair spread out behind her.
Xie Tingzhou came out of the shower and hugged her from behind.
The night wind was a little chilly, and her hands felt cold. She reached out to close the window, "Why don't you close the window?"
Chen Yu held his hand and said, "Don't turn it off. I'm watching."
"What are you looking at?"
"Home."
Xie Tingzhou's breathing was right beside her ear, and they both looked out the window.
Chen Yu said softly: "I used to think of Yanliang Pass as my home, but later, it became the place where my nightmares began. I am afraid to get close to that place."
"After that battle, I had nightmares every day at Yanliang Pass. I thought I could get over it with time, but I couldn't. My brother said that we should get up from where we fell, and I agree with that. I have to overcome my fear."
Xie Tingzhou hugged her and gently closed his eyes in the fragrance of her body, "My Ayu is the bravest woman in the world."
Chen Yu smiled and rubbed against his arms in a sticky manner.
His arms were the place in the world that made her feel most at ease, but even if she lay in his arms every night, she would still occasionally fall into nightmares.
"My father died in the conspiracy of the Great Zhou people, and also died under the sword of the Western Jue people. I can't just point the sword at the scourge of the Great Zhou and forget about the foreign enemies. I hate them all equally. All those who killed my father and 100,000 soldiers should be punished."
Xie Tingzhou sensed the excitement hidden beneath her calm words, and put his arm around her, stroking her gently.
"I can't go with you," he said. "You have to walk part of the way by yourself."
"I know." Chen Yu said, "You have to guard the northern defense line here."
To the north of the Great Zhou were the Northern Qi people. In the fierce battle a few years ago, Xie Tingzhou was injured and both sides were seriously damaged.
After that, the two sides entered a relatively calm phase, with only occasional nuisances, but they could not help but guard against external enemies and they needed to remain vigilant at all times.
Qingyunwei is an iron wall between Beiqi and Dazhou.
And heavy snow is the second.
Every year in midwinter, when the mountains are blocked by heavy snow, the Northern Qi people cannot cross the mountain range. Only then can the north be considered completely safe and the war completely cease.
This is the coldest and most peaceful time in the north.
Xie Tingzhou said, "Hmm," "The snow came late this year."
The snow slowed down his steps.
He wanted to fly away with her but couldn't.
"I will assign 20,000 Qingyun Guards to accompany you to Yanliang Pass." Xie Tingzhou said.
"No." Chen Yu refused immediately. "It hasn't snowed in Beilin yet. If the defense line is weakened, if the Beiqi people take this opportunity to launch a surprise attack, Beilin will be very passive and even fall into danger."
Xie Tingzhou also knows this very well.
A hundred years ago, when the Great Zhou was rich and powerful, the entire territory had more than 600,000 soldiers and horses. Today, the north is still as solid as a rock, but the border areas are being weakened step by step. All added up, the number of soldiers is less than half of what it was a hundred years ago.
This damn snow, why doesn't it fall yet?
Chen Yu said, "I will take Xiao Chuan and the five thousand soldiers with me, and pick out some capable men from the new recruits. I will not take the rest of the soldiers who have not been trained yet. You will train my soldiers in Beilin. Together, we will have about ten thousand soldiers. Together with the garrison troops at Yanliang Pass, we can at least resist for some time."
"Okay, wait for me." Xie Tingzhou hugged her tightly, "I'll come when it snows."
"Um."
Chen Yu turned around and Xie Tingzhou lowered his head, and the two of them kissed deeply, then hugged each other for warmth in the cold wind, enjoying the last peace before parting.
The next day, people were coming and going in the palace, and civil and military officials were constantly entering and leaving the meeting room to discuss matters such as sending troops and supplies.
"We can get the people from Wantong Escort Agency moving now." Xie Tingzhou said, "The princess and I have already discussed this with them on the road. He Xuehui will take the grain transport officer in charge of the baggage to get familiar with the route so that we can arrange the baggage route later."
Chen Yu suddenly asked Xiao Chuan, "Have you arranged all the troops?"
"It's ready." Xiao Chuan said, "Five thousand of the new recruits were picked out. These five thousand will not be any worse than the new garrison formed at Yanliang Pass. The rest of the new recruits heard that we were going to fight the Western Jue people and wanted to follow. I didn't let them."
Chen Yu nodded, "Well, new soldiers who have not been trained cannot go to the battlefield. I will only let them be responsible for the logistics of these 5,000 people going to Yanliang Pass."
Xie Tingzhou tilted his head and said, "The army is marching along the northwest route. Xuanping Hou is in the south and cannot be an obstacle to you at the moment. Xiao Chuan will lead a scout team to go ahead lightly. I will let Chang Liu follow you. He is not good at other things, but he is fast at running errands..."
Xie Tingzhou said almost everything he could think of.
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The war here with the Northern Rong people cited the doctrine of "no war in winter and summer" from the pre-Qin era. This doctrine was broken in the Han-Xiongnu War, which successfully shook the economic foundation of the Xiongnu, but it also paid a heavy price.
Therefore, there was a rule in ancient times that wars should not be fought in winter. As for how to fight, it is recommended not to go into details.
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