At the end of October, the snow in the capital fluttered and fell one after another, which looked gentle and beautiful at first glance.
At the end of October, the northern border was raging with snow and snow, and even thick furs and coats could not resist the overwhelming cold. This kind of weather, not to mention dripping into ice, was an unimaginable cold for the people of the South.
With a "hu" sound, someone exhaled heavily, and the hot air immediately condensed into a white mist in front of his eyes, which almost completely blocked people's sight. He stepped out and stepped in the snow, and half of his leg suddenly sank in. The whole person was caught off guard and lost his balance and almost fell forward. Fortunately, he was pulled by the companion next to him, so he didn't fall full of snow. .
With lingering fears, the man steadied his foot that was stuck in the snow, and probed the other foot down, only to find that there was a small slope in front of him. It's a pity that it was covered by this heavy snow, the whole place looked flat, and the small pits and slopes of stones were all hidden under the snow and could not be seen.
"There is a slope ahead, be careful." He reminded his companions behind him aloud, and then casually folded the branches to explore the way ahead.
The group stumbled forward, every step in the snow was quite exhausting, and they had been walking like this for a day and a night, no matter how hard they were, their stamina would be exhausted. Finally someone couldn't help but ask: "How long do we have to go?"
The leader took a breath and replied, "Let's go to Jingcheng. Let's go too slowly, Pingcheng is already broken, and the nearest is Jingcheng."
Most of the people in this group were not locals from Northern Xinjiang. When they first arrived, at most they had seen the map and had no idea how far Jingcheng was. So after a few steps, someone asked, "How far is Jingcheng?"
The leading Beijiang people stood still and breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back at the group of people. Twenty or so people, with only three horses, were not only exhausted after the day and night trek, but even the three horses that were carrying people were equally exhausted and gasping for breath. He didn't think it would go on like this, but he looked left and right but couldn't see a suitable place to rest: "We have to go south for a day. If we can't walk, we have to find a place to rest first."
As soon as this statement came out, no one refuted it, just burying his head and hurrying on the road, but the string in his heart didn't know whether to tighten or loosen it.
The accident happened the night before. The city of Huai, which was originally located in the rear of the army, was peaceful and comfortable. The prince personally guarded the city. The 30,000-strong army was stationed in the city. But just the night before, the city gate was opened by someone unknown, and three thousand Rongjun entered the city quietly.
Fighting, chaos, fire, wailing...
The prince personally went into battle and led Liang's army to defend against foreign enemies, but did he know that betrayal was behind him? In the end, a team of Yulin desperately rescued the prince, but Huaicheng, who encountered the rebellion, was completely occupied, and they took the injured prince on the road of escape.
Pingcheng was originally the closest place, where the army's logistical granary was located, and there were also three princes sitting there. But the escaped group never imagined that Huaicheng had just fallen, and Pingcheng had fallen even faster than Huaicheng!
A group of people rushed to Pingcheng, and even almost sent themselves and the prince to the door. Fortunately, there were also a few veterans of the Northern Xinjiang Army who escaped together, and they noticed something was wrong from a distance, so they escaped with them. It's just that Pingcheng is hopeless, and if you want to go to the next city, it is really difficult to travel in this icy world for this group of pampered Yulin.
Finally, everyone found a sheltered slope at the foot of the mountain. Many people sat down on the ground as if they were out of strength, and they lost the strength to get up after slack. Immediately, exhaustion, sleepiness, cold, and hunger came one after another, almost crushing the young Yulin.
Most of them had collapsed to the ground, and only a few were still standing beside the three horses, who were now helping them down.
Three horses carried three people, and the prince was not surprised to be one of them. His lips were pale, but his face was flushed abnormally. At a glance, he could tell that he was having a fever, which was the sequelae of the wound that had not been treated in time.
Although the prince was a little confused when he was helped off the horse, he was still awake. When being questioned, he shook his head sluggishly, and said weakly, "It's nothing to do." Then he cheered up and asked, "How are you two?"
Naturally, the prince asked about the person who was on the other two horses, one horse was supporting his lover, and the other was his prince Wei rate. The latter fought bravely for him, and after blocking the enemy, the former blocked the most deadly knife for him when he was sneak attacked. Now the condition of the two of them is not good, at least the injury is much heavier than the prince.
Someone had already checked the situation of the two of them, and the tone was not easy when they replied: "Both adults are in a coma."
The prince was relieved when he heard the words, he was still alive anyway.
The group rested on the spot and tried their best to light a bonfire to dispel the cold. However, everyone was still faced with a predicament, and the first one was starvation. When the city was broken, they fled in a hurry, and no one thought of bringing dry food. Now that they have broken out of the siege and driven a day and a night, everyone is already hungry, and what is even worse is the ice and snow, and they can't find prey even if they want to hunt.
Some people looked at the horses tied to the side, and watched them put aside the snow and dirt to find grass roots on the ground to eat, and they couldn't help covering their stomachs and said enviously, "It's good that they can still find something to eat."
The voice fell, but the man was so tired that he closed his eyes and fell asleep.
With the exception of the few who remained alert, most fell asleep quickly. They formed a circle, barely protecting the prince in the center, and leaving him the position closest to the fire.
At this moment, two personal guards were surrounding the prince, helping him deal with his wounds.
Unbuttoning the heavy fur coat, the apricot-yellow shirt inside was almost stained with dark red blood. Up to now, the blood has coagulated and darkened, but it is still shocking. There is a decent wound on the right shoulder of the prince. It was caused by someone slashing from the back with a knife. This is because Shiren discovered it quickly. He pushed the prince away and blocked most of the knife's edge, otherwise the knife would be straight. He slashed directly on the back of the prince's neck, killing him directly.
The guard carefully untied the wound that was temporarily bandaged, and the blood scab coagulated and stuck to the cloth, but the prince had to deal with the hot wound. In the end, the personal guard could only grit his teeth and plead guilty, and then ripped off the stuck fabric in one breath.
The prince gritted his teeth and groaned, and the red blood immediately came out.
Seeing this, the vigilant Beijiang veterans hesitated and handed over a wine bag. Facing the prince, he was obviously nervous and hesitant: "There is strong wine in it. It will be better to wash with this after being injured..."
The prince had no doubts, and even thanked him and let the guards check that there was no problem with the spirits, and then fell on the wound.
Heart-piercing pain, the prince was covered in cold sweat and almost collapsed in pain. He only felt that he had never suffered such a crime in his life. But in the end, he gritted his teeth and endured it, and only waited until the pain subsided, and then ordered in a hoarse voice: "Apply the medicine."
The guards hurriedly re-applied and bandaged him—wound medicine, everyone remembers to prepare some after going to the battlefield. Ordinary sergeants may not be able to prepare wound medicines, but at least Yulin and the prince's personal guards have no shortage of medicines.
The spirits cleaned the wound and put on a good gold sore medicine. The prince's brain, which was burning and confused, was completely sober now.
He raised his sleeves to wipe the cold sweat on his face, and the hot breath he exhaled condensed into mist: "Where is this now? What's the situation?"
The guards collected the medicine and returned the wine bag to the old soldier in Beijiang. He replied, "Your Highness, Huaicheng is broken, and Pingcheng is also lost. Now we are going to Jingcheng. This way... It is said that we will have to do it again. Go for a day."
The prince was obviously shocked when he heard that Pingcheng was lost. He sat up abruptly, and the wound that had just been bandaged almost burst open again: "How could it be? The rebellion, paused again, and asked in a heavy tone after a while, "Where's the third prince? Has he escaped?"
A group of people went to Pingcheng before, and the Beijiang veteran went to investigate. Hearing the words, he replied: "The third prince, he abandoned the city and fled from the beginning."
They don't know how Pingcheng was broken for the time being, but the news that the third prince abandoned the city and ran away came out. The prince didn't blame him when he heard it. If Pingcheng was in the same situation as Huaicheng, it would be wise for the third prince to escape early.
Just thinking about this is still bad, the prince sighed after a while and said, "Let's rush to Jingcheng as soon as possible."
In this situation, even if the news is limited, the prince obviously feels bad. Huaicheng and Pingcheng are very important at this time. The former represents where the prince is located. After being broken, it is like beheading. The impact on the morale of the army can be imagined. The latter is more important to the granary, and the importance of money and grain to the war is also beyond doubt. It can be said that the sneak attack of the Invalids this time can be said to have achieved extraordinary achievements, and it is even expected to change the situation of the battle!
At this time, even if the prince only has one breath, he must appear in front of people as soon as possible to revive the heart of the army. What's more, he still has concerns in his heart, afraid that if he goes to Jingcheng too late, it will be more difficult for them to go to the next city.
The group rested for half a day without eating. In the end, they had to swallow some snow to get their stomachs down, and then started the journey again.
When it was dark, they met another group of people. The team of five or six hundred people, wearing the military uniforms of the Liang Kingdom, and their clothes and armor were bloody and embarrassed, but it was a remnant of soldiers who had been defeated from Pingcheng and were also preparing to flee to Jingcheng.
The two sides met, and after the test, the prince revealed his identity and easily gathered the remnant soldiers.
From the mouths of these remnants, the prince reluctantly pieced together some of the circumstances of the destruction of the Pingcheng - very similar to what happened to Huaicheng, the sudden arrival of the Rongjun, the city gate that was opened by an unknown person, and then a night of melee fighting, the Pingcheng was destroyed.
Obviously, there are inner responders in the two cities, which makes the prince even more worried. However, encountering this group of remnants also relieved the prince and the others, because from the hands of these remnants, the prince and the others finally got some food, barely able to eat.
After that, the integrated team continued to rush to Jingcheng, and they encountered many remnants one after another on the way. The prince didn't blame them for their defeat. They all gathered together. Before they reached Jingcheng, there were nearly 2,000 people in the team behind him.
More fortunately, Jingcheng was not broken.