Spring has passed and autumn has come, and it’s winter solstice again.
It was late November in the twenty-seventh year of Tiansheng.
The southern counties of Lingyue and Guangdong in the Song Dynasty were only slightly colder, but in the north, heavy snow had already covered the entire land with a thick coat of goose feathers.
Snowflakes were flying, and a snowflake reflecting the crystal light slowly fell between Chen Duling's black hair, becoming one of his "white hairs".
"General! You'd better cover yourself with snow. If you continue like this, you will get cold. How will you be able to take charge of the overall situation then?"
Li Yong, the deputy guard of Heyuan City, chased Chen Duling all the way, trying to hit the umbrella in his hand over Chen Duling's head.
However, Chen Duling moved very fast, and his umbrella to cover the snow could not be lifted above Chen Duling's head.
Chen Duling, who had just inspected the defense situation of a section of the city wall, looked at Li Yong helplessly and said speechlessly:
"The soldiers guarding the city can stand on the city wall for hours despite the wind and snow, so what if I get caught in a little snow?
I'm not that fragile yet.
Our task today is still very heavy, let's take advantage of the Huns' offensive to pause. Quickly check for leaks and fill up the gaps, quickly make up for the deficiencies on the city wall, repair what needs to be repaired, and quickly fill in those who are short of personnel. Don't waste time on these trivial things? "
Chen Duling now wishes he could learn the art of clones and use himself as a hundred people. He has no time to wait for others.
Just to cover the snow?
He is not that precious!
When my father and I were ambushing the Hun team in the snow, they would sometimes spend the whole night crawling. What was the big deal if they were soaked in this little snow?
He couldn't even figure out how these generals had been promoted in the past. Could it be that they had not fought hard in battle?
All the women were chirping, but they didn't have the heroism and decisiveness of a warrior at all.
Li Yong smiled and was not annoyed. He put an umbrella over Chen Duling's head and said: "General, you are different from them. You are a guard general. They are just soldiers. It's okay to get wet in the snow. But if you fall at this time, our city will be in trouble." It’s all over!”
Chen Duling shook his head speechlessly and continued walking to the next section of the city wall. Li Yong hurriedly followed.
As he walked, Chen Duling asked: "How much food is left in the city? It's snowing so hard now. Are the warehouses prepared for snow?"
Be careful not to let snow fall into the grain storage, otherwise once the snow turns to water, all the grain will be lost! "
Li Yong hurriedly replied: "Don't worry, General, we are all prepared. We will start repairing the granary as soon as it snows. Now the granary is fully prepared and will definitely not let snow seep in."
The general also asked the general to put the grain and grass in the granary, which is enough for our whole city. With the weight of several years, it is impossible for our Heyuan City to be short of food even if it is short of food. "
Chen Duling nodded, and then asked: "Have all the cotton-padded clothes been distributed to the soldiers? And have the charcoal fires used by each battalion been distributed in full? Be careful to remind them that the camp tents cannot be blocked, otherwise it is very likely to happen. Carbon fire poisoning is not good.”
"Everyone has been given out, and no one has given it in full. Based on the behavior of the Huns in other cities these days, everyone knows that it is a life-and-death situation, and no one will do anything small.
Your Majesty, where are you looking? "
Li Yonggong reported Chen Duling's problem respectfully.
Then he pointed at the soldiers on duty outside the city and said:
"General, look, everyone is already dressed!"
Chen Duling turned around and saw that the guards were all wearing thick cotton coats. Feiyun Trading Company first started selling cotton. When cotton coats first came out, everyone was impressed by its warmth-keeping effect. Be skeptical.
But after putting on the cotton-padded clothes and feeling the warmth brought by Lian Yi, everyone felt really good again.
Even the imperial court started buying military supplies from Feiyun Trading Company last year. This time Heyuan City had a heavy burden, and the imperial court specially mobilized 100,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes.
Chen Duling took two steps forward and reached out to touch a handful of cotton-padded clothes. It felt familiar and warm. It was a feel that could only come from excellent workmanship and sufficient materials.
"The imperial court finally made some personnel arrangements this time and did not cut corners on supplies."
Chen Du said with inspiration.
Lieutenant General Li Yong said sarcastically: "General, how dare they do this this time!
If the imperial court wants to rebuild its defense line, it needs us to firmly defend Heyuan City. If in this case they dare to make small moves against us behind our back, they will not be afraid of our brothers..."
Li Yong didn't finish what he said, and it wasn't appropriate to finish, but Chen Duling understood what he meant, nodded and said:
“The world is like this, and there is nothing we can do.
We can't control the thoughts of those in the court. The only one we can control now is ourselves. If Heyuan City is destroyed, let alone the general's title, I am afraid that Heyuan City will also lose its chickens and dogs.
There are still two city walls, and we will finish the inspection first. According to the Xiongnu's habits in the past two days, they always used to attack the city in the middle of the night, so that the brothers guarding the city should be alert and not to be attacked by the Huns. "
"Promise! The general will understand and will make arrangements."
"That's good……"
The voices of the two people gradually disappeared, and the people walked further and further away, patrolling other city walls.
At this moment, the snow in the sky began to fall heavier and heavier.
Outside the city, the Huns camp.
"Chanyu, we can't go on like this. The snow is getting heavier and heavier. Due to lack of food and clothing, many of the slaves we captured froze to death. They can't be used to attack the city. The snow outside is getting heavier and heavier. .
If the snow reaches the knees, it will be difficult to attack the city, and then the movement of the army will be restricted! That's dangerous! "
In the camp tent, the senior officials of the Tila tribe gathered here, and a Hun general was reporting the current situation to Tila Shanyu.
Tila Shanyu also frowned. He never expected that the snow would fall so heavily this year. It was beyond his expectation and even the movement of the army was restricted!
But now the food in the army was insufficient. They didn't bring much when they came out. They wanted to plunder and replenish it in the Song Dynasty.
But since Song Ting planned to rebuild the defense line, the Song people in Hedong County began to strengthen their walls and clear the country.
The food they could find outside the city was extremely limited.
Due to the special nature of the border, most people on the east side of the river live near towns. There are not many villages dotted across the countryside like in the hinterland. Even if they cannot capture the city, the Huns can still get supplies from the villages.
There is no such thing as a village here. All the fields are official and military fields.
After the imperial decree, the people moved into the city one after another. Anyway, the food harvest had been finished long ago, leaving the Xiongnu an empty place without a grain of food.
This made life not so good for the rest of the Huns, except for the Huns who had already captured the city.
Tila originally wanted to take a big bite out of Heyuan City, an important grain-harbouring city, but he didn't expect that General Song, who was guarding the city, was actually quite capable. It had been almost half a month, and he had no clue. Progress was made, but the food and fodder were almost exhausted.
Looking at the sad faces of the generals below, Tatila Shanyu knew that he could not continue like this.
He touched his chin and began to think deeply. He looked at the map on the table in front of him and began to look for a breakthrough...
…
(End of chapter)
