pdf-ebookys Chapter 302 It’s Snowing
Chapter 302 It’s Snowing
"It seems that we can't rely on Han Dingtian anymore." Ning Yi was very disappointed.
Originally, I wanted Han Dingtian to drive away the tens of thousands of cavalry left behind by the barbarians.
They disrupted the barbarians in the rear, relieved the pressure on Hushan Pass, and forced the barbarian Khan to withdraw part of his troops.
In order to create a better opportunity for yourself and defeat the barbarians.
Who knew that Han Dingtian was such a useless person, with so many soldiers and horses, he didn't even dare to leave the city because he was being watched by 30,000 cavalrymen.
Moreover, Han Dingtian keeps asking for this and that. It seems that the situation there is really bad.
Unable to rely on anyone, Ning Yi could only rely on himself.
Qin Haifeng advised: "Your Highness, don't be impatient. Hundreds of thousands of troops are involved in a decisive battle, so there is no room for haste."
"After all, the elite barbarians are gathered here. It will be very difficult to defeat them. We must not act rashly."
He was very worried that this lord would get hot-headed again one day and lead his army out of the city to fight a decisive battle.
After all, Ning Yi went out of the city to fight several decisive battles and won great victories every time.
This is very addictive.
Ning Yi shook his head slightly: "This prince is not a fool. I know that now is not the time for a decisive battle."
"Besides, this prince doesn't want a decisive battle so soon."
He didn't want to end the decisive battle now, and he knew that he couldn't defeat the barbarians now. Even if he pulled out all the hidden private armies, it would be difficult to defeat the barbarians.
Even if they were defeated, their troops had not yet been reorganized.
The old emperor can deal with him at any time.
How could the old emperor allow an ordinary prince to lead an elite army of 200,000 every day?
What annoyed Ning Yi was that the weather was getting colder.
There are only 60,000 sets of cotton-padded clothes delivered that can be used.
The other soldiers didn't even have cotton coats, so they could only keep putting on worn-out clothes.
The soldiers at Hushan Pass are not just capable of fighting, there are also tens of thousands of menial soldiers doing miscellaneous tasks.
Without these menial soldiers who only do odd jobs, the entire Hushan Pass would have a steady supply of supplies to resist the barbarian army.
Ning Yi could only ask the court for cotton for the winter.
On the one hand, they occupied all the nearby coal mines, dug out a lot of coal and stockpiled it, so that these coal mines would be used exclusively for winter use.
Winter had just begun, and Ning Yi had just gotten up from Zeng Rou's gentle bed in the morning.
While Zeng Rou was washing him, Qin Haifeng came running over anxiously: "Your Highness, it's snowing."
"What?" Ning Yi stood up suddenly and hurried out without even having time to change into thick clothes.
Snowflakes were already falling outside, although they were very sporadic.
But it also means that the weather is indeed cold, and a cold wind blows, making people shiver all over.
Ning Yi immediately asked, "Have you distributed the winter coats?"
Qin Haifeng smiled bitterly: "I've distributed them all, but it's still not enough."
"It's really too little."
Ning Yi's face turned pale: "Damn the imperial court, they can't even do this."
"Well, first distribute all the coal we have in stock, so the soldiers won't freeze."
"Also, pay attention to ventilation to avoid poisoning."
Currently, only 80,000 sets of winter clothes can be distributed, and all of them will be used by frontline soldiers first. After all, they are the ones who have to resist on the front line.
Among them, 20,000 sets were found by him by sending people to nearby farmers.
"Those big families still won't give it to us?" Ning Yi asked.
The big families control a large number of businesses. If Ning Yi wants to collect supplies, the best way is to get them from the families.
Qin Haifeng shook his head slightly. "When they heard that it was the Sixth Prince who wanted it, they all refused. Some even threatened that if the Sixth Prince wanted something, they wouldn't sell it at all."
This is also because Ning Yi had screwed them over badly.
All the noble families suffered heavy losses and hated the Sixth Prince so much that how could they be willing to help him?
As for Hushan Pass resisting the barbarians, they don’t care. It’s none of their business.
Even if the barbarians attacked, it would be a problem for the imperial court and the vassal kings. They just had to make money.
Even the Dongfang family directly refused. You, the Sixth Prince, dared to stop our Dongfang family’s goods. Now you think of us?
Not even a set of winter clothes.
Ning Yi hated these aristocratic families, especially the Dongfang family. He promised that once he returned, he would deal with the Dongfang family first.
You are not familiar with many of the vassal kings. When the army is brought there, who will dare to help you? You will deal with them one by one.
As the weather suddenly turned cold, Ning Yi had no choice but to continue urging the court.
However, the old emperor's reply to him was to tell him not to be anxious, as the court was also collecting supplies everywhere, and asked him to wait patiently and resist well.
We can’t even wear cotton clothes, how can we expect to resist?
Ning Yi didn't know what the old emperor was thinking.
That old guy only cares about his throne, but if you don’t give the soldiers absolute protection, how can you withstand the attack of the barbarian army?
Moreover, although the base has been storing cotton clothes since the summer, it is now barely enough for the private army.
It is impossible for Ning Yi to withhold his private army's supplies and use them all on the so-called imperial troops.
The weather was getting cold, so Hushan Pass had to reduce its supplies. Many soldiers could only wear thin clothes and stay in the barracks to keep warm by using the coal they were given.
Only the tens of thousands of troops in the front were given cotton clothes and were fighting desperately.
Ning Yi personally put on armor and went to the city wall to watch.
A while ago, the barbarians' frontal attack had weakened and seemed to be perfunctory.
The attacks on the passes on both wings were very active, and a large number of troops were dispatched to launch the assault.
But in recent days, the barbarians' attacks have suddenly become more intense.
They also knew that when winter came, the soldiers at Hushan Pass would become vulnerable.
The barbarian Khan was quite clever. He seized this opportunity and launched a fierce attack on Hushan Pass.
Fortunately, at the Hushan Pass front, tens of thousands of soldiers were wearing cotton-padded clothes to keep warm, and the two sides were fighting fiercely.
The army had no choice but to strip the cotton clothes from the corpses left on the battlefield after the battle that day.
Anything that was still usable was collected and distributed to the army behind.
The barbarians also became smarter. Even at night, there were still soldiers secretly watching them.
They shot arrows at people cleaning the battlefield, deliberately preventing the soldiers of the Dawu Kingdom from cleaning the battlefield properly.
Seeing this happening every day, Ning Yi frowned: "This is not a solution."
How much can we collect just by relying on spoils from the battlefield?
And most of them are worn out and need to be sewn again.
Especially for the rebels, the barbarian Khan would not provide them with cotton clothes, so they just stole them from the people in the north and put them on themselves.
The barbarians launched several consecutive attacks without caring about casualties, and seemed to be determined to have a decisive battle with the Dawu Kingdom.
On Ning Yi's side, many soldiers even rushed up to the city wall to provide support while wearing several layers of linen clothes.
After several consecutive battles, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
Suddenly, at noon that day, Qin Haifeng anxiously handed over a letter: "Your Highness, something terrible has happened. Hongfeng County has been captured."
"What?" Ning Yi quickly took the letter and opened it to take a look.
After reading it, he frowned and asked, "What's the point of the commander of Hongfeng County? I sent a whole guard of soldiers there to support them, and they were defeated?"
Qin Haifeng explained, "Your Highness, the messenger just said that because the weather suddenly turned cold, many soldiers fell ill and were unable to withstand the rebels' continuous and massive attacks."