When the army marched out, Gu Ran didn't hold back his tears. With a red nose, this little adult-like child hiccuped while trying his best to maintain his image in front of his father and emperor: "Father, hiccup, my son is waiting for you to come back."
Big cute too.
Gu Yuanbai purposely pursed his lips in sorrow, "If my father can't come back, Ran Ge'er, you have to take up the burden on my father."
Gu Ran froze, completely unable to hold back, and threw back her head and bawled.
Gu Yuanbai: "Cough ...... I'm teasing you."
After pacifying his adopted son, in the midst of the hundred officials' tearful salutes, Gu Yuanbai took one last look at the mighty and glorious capital and resolutely turned to leave.
The people in the rear of the entrails were jumping around, waving a peace talisman in their hands, anxiously squeezing in a piece, "Officials official, we begged for a peace talisman, can we give it to the saint and the generals?"
The official who stopped the people on the side of the road patiently said, "You can't take it over there."
Xu old man's family in which to watch the army out, mouth constantly read "triumph, triumph". His mother-in-law and several sons and daughters-in-law are crowded here, the mother-in-law's face is flushed, much fatter than last year, constantly wiping tears with her sleeve, the bystanders do not know, went up to comfort: "Auntie, there is your son ah?"
"There are sons and daughters inside wearing the cotton clothes I made!" Xu Laohan's mother-in-law exclaimed, wiping the corners of her eyes again, "I hope all these sons and daughters will come back well after the saint."
A few women around them who were also summoned by the court to make cotton clothes this year put their hands together and begged the gods and Buddhas, constantly murmuring, "His Holiness must be well, all come back, all come back well."
The official on the side of the road heard more, couldn't help but say, "You don't go to care about the crops, or what to eat at noon today, why are you all here to care about the soldiers?"
A few grannies glared at him, and the men in the crowd shouted, "How can you say such things when you're eating an official's food!"
The official was only curious to ask a question, then everyone shouted, he turned his head in distress, a look, the left and right colleagues are frowning at him, the color is not good.
He smiled sarcastically and looked back as the army faded out of sight.
*
The north wind drifted cold, and twenty days later, the 100,000-strong army set up camp at the northwestern border.
The commander-in-chief was Hussar General Zhang Hucheng, and there were several generals. After arriving at the place, Zhang Hucheng came to ask for instructions from His Majesty, and then he arranged for people to go down to dig trenches and build high walls to prepare for the battle.
There are several city walls in the northwest, and when Gu Yuanbai was on top of the walls overlooking the miles, he suddenly remembered that in the original story, didn't the Western Xia capture five or six cities in Daheng from the northwest?
And now, everything has changed.
The purpose of this battle was not to defeat Xixia, but to invade Xixia in one fell swoop. The harsh winter conditions multiplied the pressure on the logistical lines that followed to transport munitions and food, and no part of the battle could go wrong, and those in the rear had to ensure the safety of the soldiers on the front line.
The people who stayed in the rear were all people that Gu Yuanbai trusted extremely.
Gu Yuanbai believed that the biggest enemy in this battle was not the Xixia, but the environment and logistical supplements.
A little later, Xue Yuan took the scouts forward to measure the terrain and reported the results of the exploration, and the generals and staff officers based on the terrain for the attack and occupation projections. Different responses were made to the various situations that would occur in the battle with Western Xia.
Kong Yilin is a man of few words, but his eyes are extremely sharp, and every time he speaks, he pokes at the key points.
Gu Yuanbai's generals, after the successive victories over the past two years had built up enough confidence and wariness to trust in their own abilities, their soldiers and their rear lines. Gu Yuanbai was worried that pride would lead to defeat, but after looking at their state, this last bit of worry had completely fallen back into his stomach.
His generals have kept their sanity and sobriety, and want victory on the ground.
Northwest yellow sand filled the sky, the city walls are the color of mud and sand. Winter is cold, in order to prevent the soldiers from wind chill, the army day by day will urge the men and horses to take turns to burn hot water, hygiene must be clean, every day to use hot water to wash their hands and faces and feet, the fire head army for ginger soup, the soldiers have to drink a bowl of hot ginger soup every day.
The soldiers thought it was too much trouble at first, but when they realized that His Holiness would come to their tents from time to time with his generals to inspect them, they caught on and started grabbing hot water to wash their feet.
We can't stink at His Majesty, can we?
Gu Yuanbai didn't know about their little thoughts, he kindly and gently patrolled a few camps and took a few hard breaths of fresh air as he came out from inside the tent.
Xue Yuan was on the sidelines, still a bit puzzled, "These brats still know how to be clean, and the smell is quite a bit lighter."
"......" Gu Yuanbai rubbed his nose.
You call that a light flavor? How much did it used to weigh?
When Gu Yuanbai thought about it, it could also be a problem of his nose being too delicate right now. He inhaled a few more mouthfuls of odorless air and said, ''The matter of infection is of the utmost importance, so we must pay close attention to it! Ventilate the tent during the day, and keep the ginger soup on hand, and tell every captain to supervise their soldiers, and once they have a fever or wind-cold, immediately send them to the military doctor for treatment."
The Hussar General and the Lieutenant General and the others responded in unison, "Yes!"
Gu Yuanbai is not yet finished, "I make the people for the northwest warriors sewing clothes, but also make it sewed tens of thousands of cloth bag, cloth bag has been put in the medicine containing stopping bleeding and healing wounds, tomorrow will be these cloth bag down to the commander-in-chief, down to the soldiers, will be firmly will be tied to the waist, can not be lost."
Zhang Hucheng and the generals' faces were solemn, and in a deep voice: "I will personally supervise its distribution tomorrow."
Gu Yuanbai nodded and walked in the direction of the return journey, "Zhang Qing, you and the generals are much more capable than me when it comes to combat. I have only familiarized myself with a few military books, but I can't arrange troops and formations. You just rest assured to do boldly, attack and defense deduction, all people together in order to check and fill in the gaps."
Zhang Hucheng was somewhat terrified: "Your holiness is full of war results no matter whether it is civil or military, I am terrified, I hope that your holiness will not say this again."
Gu Yuanbai lost his smile, thought for a moment, and asked, "Do you know Xue Jiuyao, the son of General Xue Ping?"
Zhang Hucheng was happy, "I and Old General Xue have fought together in the past, Xue Jiujiao entered the military camp at a young age, I naturally know that."
Xue Yuan stifled a few coughs.
Zhang Hucheng looked at him with a lot of emotions, "Brother Yuan is now even taller and stronger than the old minister, I have heard of Xue Jiuyao's reputation even when I was separated from the northern border by a hundred miles. After the old generals like me, there will be a successor to the military generals."
Gu Yuanbai sniffed and looked back at Xue Yuan. He was indeed taller than these generals. With his armor and sharp eyebrows, he had the mature look that the generals should have, and the physique and desire to attack and aggress that the generals were gradually losing was also thick to the bone in him.
The generals were touched by Zhang Hucheng's words and talked in twos and threes. Xue Yuan took the opportunity to lean over and whisper in Gu Yuanbai's ear, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Gu Yuanbai's ears itched, and he inclined his head, but Xue Yuan caught up, his tongue curling over his ear bead.
One of the surrounding generals suddenly asked, "Your Holiness, what do you think?"
As soon as the words fell, the soldiers patrolling around lit up the torches, and in the firelight, the saint's face seemed to be permeated with a hazy layer of thin red, "...... very good."
The general, unnoticed, followed suit and laughed: "The military's precautions are done one by one, and I also feel good about it."
Gu Yuanbai nodded his head in a calm manner.
"Xue Jiuyao still has a lot to learn," Gu Yuanbai continued from what he had just said, "but he has the talent of a general and is gifted. Whether it's fighting bandits, suppressing rebels, or fighting in the Northern Frontier, you can tell a thing or two from it. I will hand him over to you, and you can dispatch him as you wish in matters of combat, so that he can also follow you to hone his skills."
Zhang Hucheng smiled bitterly and said, "Let's not talk about what I can teach Xue Jiuyao, just for the battle of Western Xia, I had asked him what he thought, but Yuan Ge'er said that he would only protect beside His Holiness, and that in the matter of combat, don't come to him."
Gu Yuanbai froze and looked up at Xue Yuan.
Xue Yuan's face remained unchanged, as if he hadn't heard Zhang Hucheng's words.
"This kind of opportunity to build up merit, the others are all grabbing to go to the battlefield, Xue Jiujiuyao is usually the most ruthless one on the battlefield, no one can stop him. I am surprised that he could say these words," Zhang Hucheng shook his head, "He said that there will be many opportunities to make a mark in the future, so there is no hurry for this time."
"......," Gu Yuanbai responded slowly, "Uh-huh."
Thinking with his feet, he could tell who Xue Yuan was doing it for.
He feigned an involuntary glance to the side.
Xue Yuan lowered his eyes and looked at him quietly.
The bloodthirsty and warlike man gave up his military service for a single person, and preferred to stay by Gu Yuanbai's side for protection when he watched the others go to war and kill the enemy.
It's really ...... complicated mind.
In the evening, the eunuch brought hot water. Gu Yuanbai wiped his hands and face, simply wiped his body, and sat on the edge of the bed to soak his feet.
The water in the barrel reached his calves, and as he leaned over to pull on his pants leg, a large palm reached out, and the dark figure squatted down and rolled up Gu Yuanbai's pants leg.
Xue Yuan rolled up his clothes and reached out to test the temperature of the water, "It's a bit cold, I'll go bring some more hot water."
The tent door raised and lowered, Xue Yuan quickly returned, he squatted down and took the Saint's foot out of the bucket of water, holding it in one of his own hands. Pouring hot water with one hand, he stopped when he felt that the water temperature was about right, and used his hand to gently pluck the clear water, "My hand is a bit thicker than before, I only feel that the water temperature is still good, try it?"
Gu Yuanbai moved within his palm, "Good."
Xue Yuan carefully held his feet and moved over to touch the water, Gu Yuanbai felt good, "It's fine."
Only then did Xue Yuan let go of his hand in peace, stretching out two more long fingers to encircle His Holiness's wrist, frowning, "It seems like you've lost weight."
"After drinking medicine and suffering from acupuncture for a long time in a row," Gu Yuanbai held his shoulders, still shivering from the hot water, "it's not surprising that he's lost weight."
Xue Yuan sighed and steadied himself for him to help, "Any thinner and there will be no meat left."
"You should take a look at those imperial doctors at the Imperial Hospital," Gu Yuanbai raised his lips and smiled, "They've never traveled such a long distance, and they're worried about my body, everyone has lost weight along the way."
Xue Yuan responded perfunctorily, "Have the Fireheads make more meals for them."
"The Firehead's craftsmanship is okay," Gu Yuanbai said, "the material is put in enough to make everything taste good."
"You can't eat like this," Xue Yuan disallowed, "I asked the imperial physician long ago, anyone can eat like this, you can't."
Gu Yuanbai: "You can't still be as preachy in the Northwest as you are in the capital. Yuan Ge'er, add more hot water."
Xue Yuan added hot water and suddenly leaned forward and gave a kiss, "Call Jiu Yao Lang Jun."