Author: Bei Wei

"Where's the wine? Where's the wine?"

As soon as dawn broke, a loud voice somewhere woke up Shen Yuexi.

She opened her eyes, her face felt very cold, but her body was covered with two thick layers of felt, which kept her warm.

Normally, she would have stayed in bed for a while, or waited for Xia Lan to urge her. Anyway, Xiao Zhuo was there to solve all kinds of troubles, but now it was different. She had to shoulder an extremely heavy responsibility.

She jumped out of bed, used her fingers to comb and tie up her messy hair, picked up a blanket and opened the creaking wooden door.

Qiang Lin leaned against the door with his sword in his arms, holding a branch and pulling something in the fire in front of him. When he heard the door, he turned to Shen Yuexi and smiled: "Princess An, you had a good rest last night. Is it freezing?"

Shen Yuexi nodded and said, "I'm in the house, and I have the blankets everyone gave me, so it's not cold at all. Can you go inside and take a nap?"

Just like before, Qiang Lin stayed at her door all night again. This loyal protection always moved her heart.

Qiang Lin said: "It's okay. We often spend the night outdoors in winter. We have our own methods. Princess An doesn't have to worry."

Shen Yuexi unfolded the blanket and draped it over Qiang Lin, signaling him not to refuse. Then she looked up at the smoky valley.

There were lit fires everywhere in the valley, and soldiers gathered in groups around the fires. Some people were lying down and sleeping, and some were sitting and warming themselves by the fire. Soldiers carrying food bags shuttled among the crowd, distributing food to everyone. , there are still many soldiers cutting down trees to collect firewood, and the axes making a dull sound when they hit the trees.

The wooden house she was in was located halfway up the mountain. It was divided into two rows, with a total of fifty rooms. Each room could accommodate twenty people. It was originally used for soldiers guarding food and grass to stay overnight. Now that forty thousand people have poured into the valley at once, these houses cannot accommodate them at all. , most of the soldiers spent the night in the open air. Fortunately, there are many trees in Jutieshan, which can satisfy everyone's heating needs.

She looked away and asked, "Did the general shout just now?"

Qiang Lin used a burnt branch to pull out a dark roasted sweet potato from the ashes, tied it with a small branch and handed it to her: "The general has been very energetic all morning. His life should be saved if he shouts so loudly." .”

Shen Yuexi smiled slightly, reached out to take the roasted sweet potato, peeled off the skin and ate it while walking along the path towards the wooden house on the slope. When she arrived at the house, she heard Zhao Mu complaining inside before she even entered.

"I will never eat without even a drop of wine."

Shen Yuexi entered the door and saw a doctor bending down to check Zhao Mu's wounds.

"General, this arrow wound should not get worse," the doctor said after the examination. "Drinking some porridge and rice and eating some whole grains during the period of recuperation is fine, but drinking alcohol and eating meat is definitely not allowed."

Zhao Mu was about to continue shouting when he saw Shen Yuexi entering the room, waving his hands to drive away the doctor, and saluting Shen Yuexi with cupped fists: "Princess An, thanks to you for bringing the army out last night, if it weren't for you, Zhao would have had no choice but to kill himself." Zhao is injured and cannot perform the courtesy, so don’t blame him for not practicing proper etiquette."

Shen Yuexi said: "General, there is no need to say thank you. I saved everyone to help my husband."

"When the princess came to the border, Zhao noticed that you were different. You drank three bowls of wine as if nothing happened," Zhao Mu said. "But Zhao still underestimated the courage of the princess. The camp was in chaos last night, but the princess was able to Reorganize the army, Zhao Mu has been in the army for many years, and has never seen someone like the princess before. He is really smitten."

Shen Yuexi said a few polite words and talked to Zhao Mu about what to do next.

Zhao Mu said: "Princess An, the camp was attacked last night and our army was unable to resist the Iron Buddha Tu. This is the only place we can come. Although there is enough food and grass here, the weather is cold and the firewood is limited, so it cannot last long. "

Shen Yuexi also knew the reason for Zhao Mu's worry. Just last night, the soldiers cut down half of the trees on the mountain for warmth. Based on this calculation, if they can last for two days and two nights at most, the entire army will have no firewood. It is so cold. In winter, if you cannot keep warm, the consequences can be imagined.

She was thinking when Wei Liang came to report: "General, Princess An, the last general has been counted clearly. There are now 41,080 people in the entire army, including 4,009 General Qiu's crossbowmen. There are two war horses. Thousands of horses. Only 13,000 people have weapons, a total of 9,000 people have armor, and 1,600 of them have no helmets..."

When Zhao Mu heard this, he was furious. He touched his abdominal wound, frowned, and slapped the bed and said, "Aren't these little bastards just trying to steal the Tiefutu camp? They even lost their weapons and armor, so how can they fight the enemy!"

Wei Liangzheng hesitated and didn't know how to answer. Qi Shengjue entered the house again, clasped his fists and said: "General, Princess An, the scout reported that five thousand enemy troops have occupied our camp, and the general is You Bingjun. The other fifty thousand enemy troops are The army led by Jiao Yong has set off to the south, and the target should be the rear route of King An's army."

When Shen Yuexi heard the news, her hands and feet were cold, and she almost dropped the roasted sweet potato in her hand on the ground. She had just finished counting the status of the sergeant's weapons and armor, and was still worrying about everyone's heating, when such bad news came.

While she was in a daze, Qiang Lin also came to the house. After hearing the news, he comforted her and said, "Princess An, King An always pays attention to the enemy's movements. He will definitely find out about such a large troop movement in advance."

Zhao Mu, Wei Liang and others also supported Qiang Lin's view, but Shen Yuexi was still worried and said to Qiang Lin: "I'm not worried. Qiang Lin, please go back immediately and tell my husband that there is no problem with me, and... ..." Before he finished speaking, a sergeant rushed in and said: "General, Princess An, there is a cavalry coming from the south, the flag is Xiliang Army."

Everyone was very surprised when they heard the news. Except for Zhao Mu, everyone ran out of the house and climbed to the top of the mountain to have a look.

Shen Yuexi stood on the top of Jutie Mountain, with an unobstructed view of the plain to the south. She saw the Xiliang cavalry bypassing the camp occupied by Tiefu Tu and rushing directly towards Jutie Mountain. Tiefu Tu seemed to have also discovered this Xiliang cavalry. , went out of the camp to pursue him, but were distanced by the Xiliang cavalry. After chasing for a while, they could not catch up and then returned to the main camp.

Qi Shengjue pointed to the foot of the mountain and said, "Look, the Tiefutu cavalry horses are slow and cannot keep up with the Xiliang cavalry."

Wei Liang shook his head and sighed: "They have heavy armor... but so what if you can't keep up. Even if you can get behind them, you still can't beat them."

Shen Yuexi looked at the Xiliang cavalry rushing to the foot of the mountain, and recognized the leading female general Mei Dai at a glance.

Normally, she would have been extremely happy, but this time she was startled and hurried down the mountain to meet Mei Dai. When they met, she said, "Sister Mei, why are you here?"

Mei Dai pushed up her mask, revealing a tired face, took Shen Yuexi's hand and said:

"Last night I learned that you were attacked by Tiefu Tu and lost your camp. King An was very anxious, but he commanded the entire army and could not escape. I left Shen Lan to help him and led 10,000 Xiliang cavalry to rescue my sister. Xiao Beiheng sent out the cavalry to intercept , we had a big fight before we rushed over."

Shen Yuexi looked at the cavalry behind her and found that many of the soldiers' armors were stained red. They had obviously experienced a fierce battle. She was very moved and stepped forward to hug Mei Dai.

Mei Dai smiled and patted her on the back and said, "Sister, you don't have to be like this, you are the one who works the hardest."

Shen Yuexi was a little embarrassed. She shouted a few words, but her skin was not even scratched. The soldiers of the Border Army and the Xiliang Army were really fighting for their lives. They paid far more than she did.

She thought of the enemy troops that had already sent troops, and quickly talked about it with Mei Dai. Mei Dai said: "Sister, don't worry. King An knew that the North Road failed here, and he had already begun to make arrangements to withdraw his troops. He decided to withdraw his troops to defend Leshan City. No. It will allow the enemy to easily steal his retreat."

Shen Yuexi worriedly said: "What if Xiao Beiheng repeatedly invades with cavalry like before? My husband does not have Xiliang cavalry on hand, nor does he have a crossbow to help. Sister Mei, please lead the army back quickly, and by the way, General Qiu's Send the crossbowmen back. Tell my husband that everything is fine here, and I will find a way to help the border troops."

Wei Liang also said: "Queen of Xiliang, Iron Buddha Temple is blocking us in the south, and the crossbows are useless. Your cavalry is flexible, you can get rid of them, and go back with the crossbows to support King An."

Mei Dai knew that she couldn't help her mother-in-law at this time, so she nodded and said: "Okay, since my sister has decided to stay here, I will take Lian Nu back right away to help King An."

The Xiliang cavalry came to Jutie Mountain with more than 5,000 horsemen and 4,000 repeating crossbowmen. The tall and heavy soldiers rode on the only 2,000 horses left in Jutie Mountain. The short and light soldiers were with the Xiliang cavalry. Qiu Liming and Qiang Lin also got on their horses and returned with Mei Dai.

Before leaving, Shen Yuexi said goodbye to everyone and said to Mei Dai: "Sister Mei, the enemy's goal is to eliminate my husband. You should avoid fighting with the enemy and join my husband's army as soon as possible. I will find a way to break out of the encirclement here."

Mei Dai nodded in agreement and led the army to leave.

Shen Yuexi stood on the top of the mountain and watched the army disappear on the horizon before turning around and going down the mountain.

After all this trouble, it was noon. Jutieshan had hoarded a lot of food and grass. The soldiers cooked porridge and rice. She drank two large bowls, and then went to Zhao Mu's house to discuss countermeasures with him.

"In addition to grain and grass, Jutie Mountain now has tens of thousands of kilograms of iron ingots and wooden poles, which were originally used to make bows and arrows," Zhao Mu said. "Now the soldiers are short of weapons. I want to forge these iron ingots into weapons for emergency purposes, but All the forging tools are in the camp, and since the camp was occupied by the Iron Buddha, these things have become useless waste."

After he finished speaking, he sighed heavily, seemingly helpless.

Shen Yuexi was also worried.

There is only enough wood in Jutie Mountain to burn for two more days. The soldiers don't have many weapons at all, and their armor is incomplete. What's the difference between fighting Tiefutu like this and sending yourself to death? You can't beat the opponent even if you are well-dressed. If you don't fight, you won't be able to defeat him. The army could not outrun the Tiefu Tu and could not escape the enemy like the Xiliang cavalry and go to Xiao Zhuo's place.

Headache.

She didn't know what to do for a moment, so she had to go out of the house to get some air.

When she got outside the door, she came to a group of sergeants who were tinkering with wooden sticks. She saw that they were using their swords to sharpen a long wooden stick into a pointed shape, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Qi Shengjue happened to come over and said to Shen Yuexi: "This is what I ordered. Make some wooden spears. If Tiefu Tu attacks, you can't go up and hit the opponent with bare hands."

Shen Yuexi held her forehead and was speechless. What can a wooden gun do? How about letting Big Bear make a batch of weapons. Now at this critical moment of life and death, there is no point in hiding the universal manufacturing machine. If it doesn't work, just say that it was given to them by the gods. , and maybe it can also boost morale.

She took two steps and then thought that even if the big bear made a weapon, it would not be able to penetrate the iron stupa's black light armor, and the battle would still be lost.

While he was thinking hard, a scout rushed into the valley on horseback, stopped his horse on the mountain road, ran all the way up the mountain, and shouted:

"Urgent report, King Doma of Xirong has conquered Nanping and is marching towards Leshan with 70,000 Xirong troops."

Shen Yuexi remembered it. When they learned in Shengjing that Xiao Beiheng's troops were attacking in two groups, Mei Dai and Shen Lan mentioned the problem of King Doma attacking Nanping. At that time, Shen Lan said that Nanping should be able to Last for three months.

Now it seems that Shen Lan still underestimated the strength of King Doma. Now Xiao Zhuo really has to face the desperate situation of a wolf in front and a tiger behind.

"Shen Yuexi, think of a way quickly," she clenched her fists tightly and shouted in her heart, "find a way quickly."
Chapter completed!