The arrival of reinforcements boosted the morale of the frontier troops who had suffered heavy casualties in successive defeats.
The chief general of the border army, Yuan Qing, led all his generals of rank five or above to greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and General He.
"General Yuan, please get up quickly." Zhu Yun was quite tired after traveling for days. However, in front of everyone, he had to maintain the dignity that a prince should have. He mustered up his energy, showed a smile that made people feel like spring breeze, and helped Yuan Qing up with his own hands.
Yuan Qing thanked him gratefully and stood up. Their eyes met and the uncle and nephew who had never met before quickly looked at each other.
Yuan Qing was just over fifty this year, and his appearance was similar to that of Yuan Hai. He also had more battlefield-experienced sharpness and the majesty of commanding an army than Yuan Hai.
The war is going badly, and Yuan Qing has been having trouble sleeping and eating recently, and is a little more haggard than usual.
In Yuan Qing's eyes, the handsome and upright Crown Prince had a similar appearance to the young girl in his memory, and he felt close at first glance.
"Your Highness, you have worked hard all the way!" Yuan Qing opened his mouth and said: "There is also General He. You have come all the way and worked hard. Your Highness and General He please go settle down and rest first."
The army is on the road, and it is really hard work. All the soldiers have to rest and reorganize for two or three days before they can go into battle to kill the enemy.
General He was not polite to Yuan Qing and nodded in agreement. Then he led the army into the city and set up camp for repairs.
Zhu Yun did not need to live in the military tent, but moved into the general's mansion. Prince Zhao and others naturally accompanied him.
The journey was really hard, and the pampered noble clan sons were miserable. Now that they were finally able to settle down, they almost cried with joy and couldn't wait to enter the general's mansion. Everyone brought their own soldiers to accompany them, settling their luggage and other matters.
Of course, they don't need to worry about it. First, fall on the warm and soft bed and have a good sleep.
Zhu Yun was also very tired and sleepy, but he was not in a hurry to rest and went to Yuan Qing's study to talk.
"Uncle," Zhu Yun cupped his hands and clasped his fists, meeting Yuan Qing as a junior.
Yuan Qing felt warm in his heart and said hurriedly: "Your Highness is so noble, how can you salute your ministers? This is absolutely impossible."
Zhu Yun said with a smile: "When a nephew meets his uncle, he should give him the courtesy of a junior. From now on, in front of everyone, we are monarchs and ministers, but privately we are uncle and nephew. Please don't be separated from me, uncle."
A direct nephew is just different.
Even though we only communicated through letters in the past and have never met each other, when we meet now, there is no feeling of strangeness. It is the closeness that comes from blood.
Yuan Qingshu raised his brows, and without being too polite, smiled and asked about Queen Yuan's current situation.
Zhu Yun smiled and said: "My mother's temperament is the same as when she was young. She will get close to anyone she likes, and will not be willing to talk to anyone she doesn't like. She has a good appetite every day, eats well and sleeps well."
Yuan Qing listened and felt extremely happy.
The queen of a country, the mother of the world, Yuan Xiang has received the honor of the world, and has the exclusive favor that all women envy.
Not to mention an emperor, even an ordinary man would have a concubine when he got rich. Emperor Qing'an always kept his beloved wife, his original wife, and never had sex with her. This devotion is touching.
Yuan Qing asked about the Crown Princess Yuan Min again. When Zhu Yun talked about Yuan Min, his eyebrows were smiling and his voice was full of tenderness, which showed the deep love between the young couple.
Chatting about everyday things quickly narrowed the distance between uncle and nephew.
Zhu Yun asked in a low voice: "Uncle, there are 100,000 frontier troops. Even if there are some casualties, there are still 80,000 or 90,000 people. Why are we losing battles one after another?"
As soon as he talked about the war, Yuan Qing stopped laughing and sighed, his voice full of bitterness: "There are no outsiders here, so I might as well say something heartfelt to Your Highness. The fighting power of the border troops is not as good as the elite soldiers of the Tatar Rouran."
It could be defended in the past because the Tatars and Rourans fought endlessly. Even if they sent out troops, they did not dare to go out in full force. At most, half of the troops were sent out. This time, the two tribes formed an alliance and the army was sent out together, plus other
The tribes sent out troops together, with a total strength of about 100,000. If faced head-on, it would be difficult for the border troops to resist."
"At the beginning, we lost three border cities in succession. The border troops suffered heavy casualties and their morale was low. Later, I issued a military order and ordered everyone to stay at the city gates, and the battle situation was barely stabilized."
"The Rouran people were the most cruel. They drove the abducted women and children outside the city gate and tortured and killed innocent people in front of the soldiers guarding the city. As a result, the morale of the border troops was even lower."
These details were briefly mentioned in the battle report. At this time, listening to Yuan Qing's detailed description, Zhu Yun felt strong anger in his heart. He gritted his teeth and said angrily: "These Rouran people really deserve to be killed!"
Yuan Qing gave a wry smile and continued: "Seeing that this trick worked, the Tatars followed suit and drove the people to attack the city. The soldiers wanted to defend the city and had to shoot arrows at the people. Every time they retreated, there were heavy people outside the city gate.
Bones and blood are flowing like rivers!"
"Your Highness, what I'm most afraid of right now is not that we can't hold the city gate, but that the military's morale will mutiny."
Zhu Yun was suddenly startled and looked up at Yuan Qing.
Yuan Qing looked worried and sighed repeatedly: "In the past few days, the Tatars have been attacking the city one after another. Your Highness might as well take a look and see for yourself."
…
Three days later, His Royal Highness witnessed a siege battle.
Outside the solid city gate, the strong and fierce cavalry of the League outside the Pass were waving their flags and making various shouts and curses from time to time.
There were actually more than ten Daqi people who were scolding and fighting under the city. These people were all men, and their voices were loud. They cursed and cursed endlessly in the dialect familiar to the border troops.
There were one or two people who refused to open their mouths. The Tatars behind them suddenly waved their long swords, and they were killed immediately by the swords, leaving a bloody mess.
After cursing for half an hour, they began to attack the city. Hundreds of ragged people were forced forward by the sharp swords behind them. There were bursts of screams and cries, either from women, old people, or people under eight or nine years old.
years old children.
These old and weak women and children were driven to the city gate by the cavalry, and died under the bows and arrows of the city defenders, or were killed by swords behind them. The worst one was a pregnant woman who was killed by several horses.
He was trampled to death. The miserable and horrific scene was simply unbearable to witness.
There was also a six- or seven-year-old boy who was cut into a bloody man with a knife. He wailed miserably and childishly for a long time before he died.
Hell on earth, nothing more than that.
Zhu Yun looked at this human tragedy, his blood was boiling and he was furious. His whole body was trembling.
Yuan Qing had seen many such scenes and could barely hold on. General He frowned, his face was extremely ugly, and his tears were filled with murderous intent.
As for Prince Zhao and the others, their whole bodies were already trembling, and their stomachs were churning and nauseating. Whoever it was, turned around first and vomited with a loud sound. There was a sudden sound of nausea.
Zhu Yun's stomach was also churning.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, suppressed the roaring anger in his heart, and said to Yuan Qing: "General Yuan, give an order to the soldiers guarding the city to repel the incoming enemy."
