A few years ago, when Kangxi went to Galdan for the first time in person, it was the end of spring and early summer when the temperature was suitable. The grassland was green and the war horses could eat the fresh and tender green grass as soon as they lowered their heads. There was no need to worry about going hungry.

Even if the Qing army came from afar to fight in an unfamiliar place, they could quickly adjust their combat status after eating and drinking.

But when it came time to personally conquer Galdan for the second time, the general environment became somewhat unfriendly to the Qing army.

The first month of spring, which is so cold and cold, is not over yet.

The capital city is experiencing late spring cold, and the temperature on the prairie will only get lower. Just open your mouth and you can exhale a cloud of white water vapor.

At the end of last year, although there were several heavy snowfalls in Qing Dynasty, it stopped falling and was interspersed with warm sunny days. As a result, the snow melted in time, and it was far from developing into a snow disaster.

Instead, it moistened the fields and turned them into auspicious snow.

But Mongolia does not have such good luck.

The herdsmen in Monan, Mobei, and Moxi have indeed encountered a heavy snowstorm that has not been seen in decades. The westernmost Mongolia is still the hardest hit area. Not only many cattle and sheep were frozen to death,

There were also some yurts that were directly crushed by the snow, and some elderly people and newborn babies either froze to death or starved to death.

People don’t have enough to eat, so the prairie wolves are naturally hungry and their eyes are glowing green. The snow disaster and wolf infestation have caused heavy damage to Mongolia in the Desert. Both weak and strong tribes have taken refuge in the strongest combat force in the west of the desert - the Zhungeer tribe.

, surrendered to the Khan King Galdan of Jungar and merged into the Jungar tribe.

Because of this natural disaster, Galdan's strength increased many times, and he easily controlled the entire desert of Mongolia.

The disaster situation in Monan Mongolia and Mobei Mongolia was better than that in Mongolia Mongolia. Although some small and marginal tribes that were not wealthy were also severely affected, because of the existence of the wool business, in the past few years, the herdsmen in Monan Mongolia and Mobei

In order to make money, they increased the number of cattle and sheep raised on the pasture, and more or less saved some money in their hands through the wool business, and they were able to barely survive this natural disaster.

The simple herdsmen in Monan and Mobei thought that as long as they survived this long and cold winter, their lives would be easier when the spring breeze blew, the spring rain fell, and the fresh grass broke through the moist soil and grew out.

.

But they never expected that the herdsmen of Mongolia, the most severely affected area in the desert, would all defect to Zhungar. Under the leadership of Galdan, they would come together to attack them and steal their food! Kill them!

Their people! Plunder their cattle, horses, and sheep!

Suddenly, the herdsmen in Monan and Mobei all fell into panic.

The Monan tribes were the first Mongolian forces to attach themselves to the Qing court. The extremely profitable wool factory was built on the grassland of Monan Mongolia. In this war, Monan Mongolia bore the brunt and was the first to suffer the consequences of the Jungar cavalry.

of harm.

As the saying goes: "When you are full and warm, you think."

In order to make money, the herdsmen in Monan raise the most sheep and the least war horses. Now that they have spare money, they are well fed and warmly clothed, so they naturally want to live a stable, comfortable, indulgent, and leisurely life.

Therefore, their combat effectiveness compared with that of Galdan soldiers is the difference between domestic huskies and wild prairie wolves, but they look similar on the outside, but they are not at the same level when fighting with real swords and guns.

Galdan led the "hungry" and "jealous" Moxi cavalry who were like wolves and tigers and suffered heavy losses. When they came from the west in a blizzard with a shiny scimitar, they licked blood from the edge of the knife and headed east.

Fighting, plundering the supplies of small tribes along the way, the cavalry of Monan Mongolia could not defeat Galdan at all, and lost the battle. Just like Mobei Mongolia, which was beaten by Galdan last time and had to go south, it faced Galdan's attack.

This time, Monan Mongolia was also forced by Galdan to move step by step eastward, and to the east was the capital, the political and economic center of the Qing Dynasty.

Monan Mongolia looked useless, and Mobei Mongolia also suffered a snow disaster. Even if the three tribes in Mobei were determined to go south to aid Monan Mongolia, they were powerless. They really couldn't defeat Galdan!

In just half a month, the Moxi cavalry, which had not suffered a single defeat, not only filled their stomachs by burning, killing, looting, but their fighting strength and fighting spirit also increased several times.

Before Kangxi left Beijing, he knew that this battle would not be easy to fight. He failed to kill Galdan last time. This time he must kill Galdan to prevent the strongest Jungar tribe in Mongolia from expanding eastward.

The pace of the territory, otherwise as Zhungeer's strength increases, the threat to the capital will only become greater day by day!

But even though Kangxi was mentally prepared in advance, when he led his army to the battlefield in Monan Mongolia, he saw that the withered yellow grassland on the front line was still covered with white snow.

Because of the low temperature, the snowflakes that fell on the grass did not melt for a long time, and the "grassland" turned into a "snowfield." Some small rivers that could have been used as road signs were all covered with ice due to the weather, and the ice was covered with a layer of ice.

There was a thick layer of snowflakes, and everything you could see from a distance was a vast white scene. Even the generals who had an excellent sense of direction frowned and looked at the sheepskin maps in their hands, but they couldn't tell where was where. It was a bit confusing.

Shen would get lost in the vast snowfield and die under the sharp scimitar of the Moxi cavalry.

The cavalrymen had horses under their buttocks, and they could pull the reins to make the horses run on the snowy fields.

But the infantrymen suffered a lot. The backs of their hands were red with frostbite and all ten fingers were frozen. They could hardly swing their broadswords and spears, and the bowstrings in the archers' hands were also very difficult to pull.

Not to mention that when they were running on the snowfield, one foot would bring up a layer of slush, as if they had anklets tied to their ankles. Their mobility was greatly reduced, making running extremely difficult, and the mortality rate was high.

It's also higher.

What's even more frightening is that when the weather gets colder, people need to eat more food to obtain calories. The soldiers eat more, and the rate of food consumption doubles.

Kangxi knew that this battle had to be decided quickly, and it would be troublesome if it dragged on.

But everything backfired. Due to various reasons, the war fell into an anxious state. After more than a month of fighting, the Qing army lost more and won less. Galdan relied on his familiarity with the Mongolian terrain and caused many obstacles for the Qing army.

The Qing army suffered a lot of losses.

Because of the defeat in the war and the lengthening of the battle line, not only did the morale of the surviving Qing troops begin to slowly slump, but they were also physically and mentally exhausted. Kangxi, the generals, and the ministers accompanying the army saw this unfavorable situation in front of their eyes.

I was anxious in my heart, so I couldn't help but frown, and stayed up all night discussing the battle strategy.

The soldiers who went to the front line in both battles, seeing the current tiring and frustrating fighting situation, couldn't help but secretly miss the imperial concubine in their hearts. At least the imperial concubine was really at the forefront when fighting.

There is the bravery of "one woman is in charge, and ten thousand men are not able to open it"!

The little soldiers just followed behind and watched the imperial concubine killing people indiscriminately, and they felt their blood rush to their bodies, and their morale naturally improved.

But this time the imperial concubine did not come to the front line. When the soldiers who had seen the imperial concubine kill the enemy and swept away a large area of ​​soldiers with a whip then watched their commander cut off the head of an enemy soldier with a sword, the contrast between the two was too sharp. They kept trying

I can't even lift it up.

…

The food and grass on the front line were depleted very quickly. The prince who was in charge of the rear area not only had to supervise the country and handle political affairs, but also had to find ways to collect food and grass and send it to the front line battlefield. There was a war on the front line, and the soldiers could not stop for a meal. Yin Reng

It was necessary to ensure that the capital had enough food and grass to be continuously sent to Monan Mongolia, so that his busy feet did not touch the ground, and the blue and black under his eyes became heavier day by day.

It is easy to think too much during pregnancy. Crown Princess Guarjia was trying hard to adjust her emotions while holding her five-month-old belly. She did not dare to be afraid or anxious, lest she be in a bad mood and harm the fetus in her belly.

What kind of irreversible damage would be caused? She knew that the situation was critical now and the prince was very busy. She didn't want the prince to worry about her and the child in her belly anymore. However, the emotions of pregnant women were greatly affected by the hormones in the body, and it was not something Gualgia could control if she wanted to.

Controlled.

Yinreng found that his daughter-in-law, who had always been strong, began to shed tears at every turn, and was extremely anxious.

After the imperial concubine found out, she immediately took the crown princess to live in Chuxiu Palace to prevent the prince from being distracted by state affairs.

From now on, Qingyan not only had to manage the affairs of the harem, but also had to stabilize the anxious hearts of the empress dowager and the concubines, and protect the child in the uterus of the empress dowager. She was also extremely busy like the prince, and almost hit the back of the head with her foot.

…

As the days passed, the atmosphere in the capital became more and more tense due to the stalemate war situation.

The concubines in the palace all huddled in their rooms and did not want to hang out outside.

In early March, a series of light spring rains fell, and the war in Mongolia entered its second month.

The temperature on the prairie is getting higher day by day, and the yellow grass is turning green.

Kangxi continued to adjust his strategy, and the Qing troops, whose morale had been low for many days, began to gradually counterattack. Finally, they won more and lost less. They pushed the front lines of the two armies westward little by little, preparing to push the Zhungeer troops back.

Go to Mongolia in the desert.

March 18th is the annual Wanshou Festival.

This year, because the emperor was not in the Forbidden City, the Longevity Festival was not held, and the people in the capital naturally did not feel at all festive.

It rained for three consecutive days in the capital, and Qingyan also had nightmares for three consecutive days in the Chuxiu Palace. They all dreamed that the Qing army was in a good situation.

Kangxi, with the intention of killing Galdan completely this time, led his eight sons to push Galdan back to the west. Unexpectedly, he fell into Galdan's trap near the Qilian Mountains, and the fifth elder brother Yinqi was directly killed.

A sharp arrow flew towards him and hit him in the face, almost blinding him in his right eye.

Yinqi was disfigured by the enemy's stray arrows, and Kangxi's right arm was also severely injured.

Just like a close-up shot in a movie, Qingyan clearly dreamed that Kangxi had an arrow planted on his right shoulder and right arm, accidentally rolled over from the horse and fell off, and then fell out of the dream sweating profusely.

Woke up with a start.

If the dream was an accident and she dreamed about the same content for three days in a row, Qingyan felt uneasy and had an intuition that something big must have happened on the front line.

At the end of the morning on March 21st, Qingyan was sitting in the study room of the dean of the Princess Academy, reading a book. However, because of the content of her dream, she was a little distracted, and she barely turned the pages of the book open in front of her.

At this time, Bai Lu led He Zhuer and hurriedly pushed open the study door and walked in. When Qingyan saw He Zhuer, whose face was red and sweating profusely, her heart skipped a beat and she stood up from the armchair with a "swish" sound.

He stood up, clenched the two hands at his side into fists, forced himself to calm down, and asked anxiously to Manager Xiao He:

"He Zhu'er, did something happen to the Emperor, the Fourth, and the Fourteenth?"

When Bai Lu heard her master's words, her eyes widened in shock.

He Zhuer, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but feel sad when he heard the imperial concubine's words. He leaned over to the imperial concubine and whispered:

"Your Majesty, it's not convenient to talk here. You'd better follow me to Yuqing Palace. His Highness the Crown Prince has received the latest battle report."

As soon as He Zhuer finished speaking, Qingyan immediately raised her legs and ran out.

After Bai Lu and He Zhuer came to their senses, they also rushed forward quickly.

The palace people walking on the palace road saw the imperial concubine running quickly along the bluestone palace road from a distance. Before they could bend down to salute, the imperial concubine ran past them like a gust of wind.

When the maids and eunuchs saw the anxious look on the imperial concubine's face, their hearts sank, and they speculated that something had happened on the front line.

When Qingyan ran to Yuqing Palace in one breath and rushed into the hall in the front yard, she saw Yinreng sitting on an armchair with red eyes. In his right hand, he held a bright yellow military information brochure with a stick stuck in it.
To be continued...