As winter approaches, the weather becomes increasingly severe.
Only one night passed, and the snow between the sky and the earth was already up to the knees, which brought great inconvenience to the siege.
But it also gave Heyuan City a chance to breathe.
"call!"
After exhaling in one breath, it turned into a cloud of white mist. Ding Cheng rubbed his hands and walked back and forth anxiously but expectantly.
The deputy general came in a hurry, his armor covered with white frost and falling snowflakes.
"General! It's snowing heavily today and the Huns have stopped attacking the city!"
Ding Cheng's face suddenly became happy when he heard this, and he hurriedly asked: "Are you serious about this? Do you really think the Huns did not attack today?"
The deputy general nodded affirmatively and replied: "That's true!"
"Hahahaha! God help me! God is helping us!"
Ding Cheng laughed excitedly, but the deputy general's face was not happy at all. When Ding Cheng finished laughing and saw his serious face, he asked in confusion: "What happened? Isn't it a good thing that the Huns didn't attack?"
The deputy general sighed and said solemnly: "General, a dozen soldiers froze to death in the city last night."
The smile on Ding Cheng's face suddenly froze. After a pause, he hurriedly asked:
"What's going on? Didn't you give out the winter coat?
Aren’t there enough charcoal fires for heating? Why do people freeze to death? "
The deputy general looked ugly and said:
“Only when the soldiers put them on did they realize that only half of these winter coats and quilts were stuffed with cotton, and the other half were filled with reed flowers, which did not keep them warm at all.
If the soldiers hadn't slept together yesterday, I'm afraid more people would have died!
General, this won't work. You can't fight in a winter coat like this!
The brothers may freeze to death before they fight the enemy! "
Ding Cheng is no longer a child. He immediately understood what happened as soon as he heard these words.
In an instant, he said angrily: "Ahhh! These damn civil servants! What are they doing! They even dare to tamper with our winter supplies in Heyuan City. If we fall here, I don't see what use they have with so much money. Then they will all belong to the Huns!"
This batch of materials was specially purchased by the Holy Emperor from internal funds. The only handling department is the Armament Department of the Ministry of War. With their current strategic position in Heyuan City, the Holy Emperor will definitely not allocate less internal funds. The problem is already obvious. .
Definitely the dog officers of the Department of Armament! ! After squandering their material resources, they came up with reed flower quilts and reed flower cotton clothes!
Can!
How dare they?
The deputy general's face was unusually solemn. Hearing this, he shook his head and said: "General, it is no longer helpful to say this now. The top priority is to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
It is impossible for soldiers to fight wearing such cotton-padded clothes.
If this matter is not resolved, when the snow subsides, only half of the soldiers who can climb the city wall will be left. When we were all defeated, our troops were already stretched thin. If only half of the number of soldiers is left, then the city will not be able to defend it at all. . "
Ding Cheng frowned tightly and wandered back and forth with his hands behind his back. After a while, he gave the order: "Immediately pass over the civil servants in my name and hand the folder to me into the palace. Report this matter to His Majesty, no matter what No matter what, even if this battle is lost, the reason for the defeat cannot be on me.
This is all done by those civil servants who don’t know the importance of it.
As for keeping warm…”
After hesitating for a moment, Ding Chengyi gritted his teeth and ordered: "Collect cotton from the people in the city. Every household must produce at least one piece of cotton for a cotton coat. There must be no mistakes!"
When the deputy general heard this, he was immediately puzzled: "General, this won't work. Our Heyuan City is a major grain storage area, with many soldiers and few soldiers.
Not every household of the common people has cotton-padded clothes. If we impose compulsory collection, I'm afraid there will be trouble. "
Ding Cheng shouted directly:
"What happened to General Seki?! Who allowed those civil servants to embezzle our military supplies? The soldiers under my command have to fight and defend the city. You can't let them go to the city wall naked to fight with the Huns, right?
After all, we are defending the city for their safety. Can't we ask them to contribute some cotton? "
"But many ordinary people don't have enough clothes to keep out the cold, let alone cotton." The deputy general said.
Ding Cheng waved his hand and said: "I don't care, no matter what, every family has something to keep out the cold.
Anyway. I don't care about the process, but whether the soldiers keep warm or not is what I should be concerned about!
As for the rest, I can’t control that much anymore! "
Ding Cheng's meaning was already obvious, that is, he didn't care about the life or death of the people, as long as the soldiers under his control lived.
Everything else is the fault of the literati!
The lieutenant general opened his mouth and thought of the pitiful looks of the frozen soldiers he saw in the military camp this morning.
Finally, he nodded heavily: "Okay! General, don't worry, my subordinates understand!"
After saying that, the deputy hurried out of the door.
Ding Cheng walked back and forth on the same spot twice more, rubbed his hands again, and finally after his expression changed, he murmured in a low voice: "No, it's impossible to defend the city like this, and reinforcements haven't arrived for a long time. I have to go early." Arrangements are made.
Otherwise, we’ll just have to play with the whole city! "
"Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu! Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Wu followed him all the way to Heyuan City after escaping from Weiyang City, but now Xiao Wu is no longer serving in the army, but has become his general.
As soon as he shouted, Xiao Wu hurried in.
"Master!"
Maybe it's because he's eaten well recently, but Xiao Wu's face is rounder than before.
Ding Cheng immediately ordered: "Hurry up and find out how we can safely escape if the city is broken. After you find out, report to me as quickly as possible!"
"Huh? Escape again?"
Xiao Wu opened his mouth wide.
Ding Cheng's eyes widened: "What did you say?"
Xiao Wu quickly shut up, nodded and ran out quickly.
After he left, Ding Cheng quickly headed towards the backyard. He had to quickly notify the woman at home to pack up all the gold, silver and jewelry before running away again. Don't waste your time running away.
Ding Cheng's wife was also confused as to why she was running away again, but since her master said it, it must be true, so she quickly started to pack it up.
The snow became lighter that night, and after a whole day, the deputy general and his people went to every house in the city to collect winter clothes.
Those who have cotton-padded clothes will be given a cotton-padded coat, and those who don’t will be given other warm items. In short, every family has to give them.
Throughout the day, the entire Heyuan City was in chaos, and many people's only winter clothes and supplies were taken away.
Some soldiers who were obsessed with robbing even robbed that family's money.
The deputy general was too busy to care about this, so he let them go.
In this way, the people in the city were robbed by their own people before they were robbed by the Huns.
The entire Heyuan City was in mourning because of Ding Cheng's order.
After one night passed, the soldiers were not dead, but hundreds of people in the city were frozen to death.
But Ding Cheng couldn't control that much anymore, because as soon as the snow stopped, the Huns began to attack the city again!
I don't know if it was because of the weather, but the Xiongnu came with unusual ferocity this time. From the beginning, the whole army pressed on them!
The defenders of Heyuan City were caught off guard by the Xiongnu's desperate fighting style!
…
(End of chapter)
