Chapter 119 The Truth Behind the Snowflakes

It was late autumn, and the wind rose from the sky, and the cold air roared south along the Tianmai from the extreme north, passing through the northern desert, and came to the north of Cangzhou. Cangzhou is located at the northern end of Nanqing, and is the closest Chicheng to the Northern Qi Dynasty. Judging from the geographical environment, it should be in the southeast of Shangjing City. However, because the wind is cold every year, the Tianmai is moving south, so this place is even colder than Shangjing City.

The autumn trees around had already fallen all their leaves, and the fields under the city rushed to harvest the only harvest in late summer. Now they have become batches of crappy fields, covered with frost, which looks very pitiful.

Several snowfalls had already fallen. After passing through Nanqing Mang, the hills around the distant mountains were covered with white snow, and it looked quiet. Just above the snow fields, you could faintly see many black spots and the Northern Qi army flag swaying in the snow wind.

A general in Cangzhou City squinted his eyes and looked over there. The scout had already reported the news. This time, the troops from the Northern Qi side went south to cover the sky and the earth, and they were densely packed with countless numbers, but they were afraid that they had gathered all the forces of the Southern Qi army.

The people of Northern Qi are here! The defenders of Cangzhou City are not afraid. Although the enemy is powerful, they still don’t feel afraid at all, because the two sides have fought countless times these twenty years ago, and the people of Northern Qi have never taken advantage of it. Even in recent years, the famous general Uesugi, Uesugi, was transferred from Beimen Tianguan by the Emperor of Northern Qi and came to the south, and there was no way to move forward in the strict defense of the Nanqing army.

The only thing that worried the generals of Cangzhou was the man named Uesugi. Twenty years ago, after Emperor Qing stopped leading the troops himself, the only one in the world could be called the God of War. Perhaps this is the only general Uesugi. This is the glory obtained by this man's bloody battle with the barbarians in the north.

In recent years, the morale and equipment of the Northern Qi army were far inferior to that of Nan Qing, but they could still maintain a balanced situation in the Cangzhou area. All of this is because of this man named Uesugi. This man used troops like a god and used the technique of division and interweaving. He did not really exhaust all his strength, but he spent both the Nan Qing roadside troops here.

After years of small conflicts and minor frictions, both sides strictly guarded the border and did not carry out real major military actions. In the view of Nanqing, they were just making preparations, accumulating food, grass and weapons, waiting for His Majesty to finally issue the order to send troops. His Majesty the Emperor was still cleaning up the government affairs, and these vanguard troops of the Qing State were also waiting, but they never expected that the people of Northern Qi came first without fighting.

According to the practice of previous years, as soon as autumn begins, the two will stop harassing and testing each other. General Uesugi Tsubaki will be recalled to Shangjing for annual leave. Why did he suddenly come back from Shangjing this year?

The earth slowly trembled. The vibration was not loud, and the momentum was not amazing. The black lines on the snow hills in the distance gradually moved closer towards Cangzhou. As the distance got closer, in the eyes of the officers and soldiers in Cangzhou City, these countless dense black lines and military formations like dark clouds were gradually broken into part of the military camp combinations, and they were decomposed into specific people, wearing armor and holding swords and guns. The soldiers on the Northern Qi City had a solemn look on the frost flowers on the eyebrows of the Northern Qi people and their pale hands holding spears.

A tense and depressing atmosphere spread rapidly on Cangzhou City. Then the school officials were humble and shouting, holding flag commanders, hurried back and forth in more than a dozen corner buildings on the city wall.

The Cangzhou Guard put down the monocular telescope made by the inner warehouse in his eyes, frowned deeply, and said to himself: "What exactly do these Northern Qi people want to do?"

The temperature on the top of the city was extremely low. The words he said were immediately turned into fog. It covered his face like the dense Northern Qi army horses far away outside Cangzhou City. It covered the truth and made countless people feel confused.

The guard slowly held the hilt of the sword beside his waist, squinted his eyes and looked at the shocking Northern Qi people under the snow hills in the distance, as if they wanted to see through the other party's true intentions. Could it be that the other party really wanted to go south? The guard did not believe this, because he believed that a famous general Uesugi Tsubaki would never be confused to this point. No matter how famous generals of the Northern Qi were using their troops as gods, they would not be able to mobilize many troops in this cold weather in the late autumn. This is a way to seek death.

The soldiers of Nanqing did not believe it, because although the Northern Qi army that appeared outside Cangzhou City was amazing, it was estimated to have reached 40,000 people, these field troops did not have sufficient siege equipment. What did they use to capture Cangzhou City?

There are 20,000 elite soldiers in Cangzhou City waiting for the battle!

"General, the people of Northern Qi have already entered the border." A school official reminded the Cangzhou garrison, his eyebrows twitched twice. It was obvious that he was a little angry at the inaction of Cangzhou. He watched the Northern Qi army invade the border, but the Beidaying did not react at all. Nan Qing had not endured this humiliation for many years.

The Cangzhou Guardian did not react at all. He knew that the conservative response of these two days had already made many proud generals of Nanqing feel angry. However, he knew that he was facing Uesugi, especially such a sudden snowflake that suddenly drifted like snowflakes, which really made him very alert. He couldn't guess what the other party wanted to do.

The southern army of Northern Qi was divided into three routes, and at an extremely fast speed, it broke through the border between the two countries and invaded the military control range of the Nanqingbei Camp. This was a major operation that the people of Northern Qi had not carried out in 20 years. Before this, neither the Supervision Bureau nor the military's own intelligence system could smell the slightest sound.

The Northern Qi army had a forceful entry into the country. It seemed to be a huge momentum, but it was impossible to go straight to the south. Any military operation always had its purpose. So... what was the purpose of Uesugi Tiger's shocking move this time?

There are 20,000 defenders in Cangzhou City, and the powerful strength of Beidaying is scattered among the four barracks with Cangzhou as the core. There are 40,000 Northern Qi and Southern Army in the distance in front of the city, with great momentum, but they divide their troops into the border of Nanqing. Isn’t the other party worried that the Beidaying will be dispatched to encircle the surrounding area?

It was late autumn. It was deep and the cold was heavy. The lonely army in the Northern Qi Dynasty advanced far away. There would definitely be great problems in logistics. As long as the city of Cangzhou was closed down and the Uesugi tiger was attracted to attack, the Beidaying camp quietly surrounded the army camps. In addition to retreating first, what other choices could there be?

He can't get any benefits, but he has to mobilize so much military power and consume so much food and energy. Uesugi...what exactly does he want to do?

The Cangzhou garrison frowned very tightly. Looking at the Northern Qi people who had already begun to camp in the distance below the city, they fell into deep thought and ignored the angry expressions of their subordinates...

It was already the fifth day, the largest military operation in the Northern Qi Dynasty in 20 years. However, it unexpectedly encountered the most tolerant response from the Nanqing army. The Cangzhou garrison was blocked from the city, and the military camps in various Beidaying were just waiting for the battle, watching these Northern Qi people set foot on their own territory, but did not make any strong reaction.

This is too inconsistent with the pride and iron blood of the Nanqing soldiers. Even the Northern Qi army, who were silently engaging in the borders of Nanqing and were always waiting for a bloody battle with the Nanqing army on the battlefield, felt a little surprised and strange.

Just in a small city that is still sixty miles away from the borders of both sides. The base camp for the Northern Qi military operation is located here. In a requisitioned house in the city, the snow charcoal in the brazier is burning, and the inside is red and the layer of silver ash seeps out, making the whole room full of warm spring.

However, several senior generals of the Northern Qi Dynasty in the room were not cooking fires. They stood by a table, looked at the flat southern military map on the table with concern, and occasionally glanced at the person sitting on the Taishi chair.

Uesugi Tsuka sat on the Grand Master's chair, slightly closed his eyes, as if he was thinking and sleeping. Suddenly, he slowly opened his eyes and asked, "It has been five days since the three routes entered the country. Is there any movement in Cangzhou?"

The number one general in the Northern Qi Dynasty was not loud, but it was extremely thick.

"Report to the Grand Marshal, Cangzhou City is still locked and unable to leave." A general replied respectfully: "According to the Grand Marshal's military order, the three armies dared not go deeper. Except... the whole journey of Cangzhou."

"I didn't expect these colleagues in the south to be able to endure more than in previous years." Uesugi Tor stood up expressionlessly, walked to the long table, pointed to a point on the map, and said, "However, the people of Qing are arrogant, and this is a battle of righteousness and cannot be used to cheat. The Cangzhou defenders can last for at most two days. It is impossible to wait until their Kyoto's orders arrive, and they must fight... Otherwise, he will not be able to explain to the Nanqing court."

"What if they still stay closed and don't leave?" The Uesugi Tsubaki confidant general said worriedly: "This time we put all our strength into it. If the other party stays for another two days, the four camps of Beidaying can see through the reality of the other two routes and directly surround us. We can't handle a single one... I'm afraid we will suffer heavy losses."

The sudden big move by the Northern Qi army was not only unpredictable to the facts of the generals of the Southern Qingbei Camp, but even the Northern Qi people themselves did not know why they suddenly sent troops. They also braved the cold and took such a great risk to penetrate the border of Qing Kingdom. Although this was indeed very satisfying, as soldiers, they wanted actual results, rather than paying thousands or even tens of thousands of lives, and then went to the other city and showed off their power.

Perhaps only the Emperor in the Northern Qi Shangjing Palace, and the silent General Uesugi Tiger, who really knows the inside story of this military service, may be the only one who dares to ask them?

"Although we are on the defensive for the years, don't think too terrible about Qingjun." Uesugi's palm fell steadily on the map and said: "Nan Qingbei Camp is based on Cangzhou as its hub. However, five days have passed, and the other four armies of Beidaying have not come to join forces with the aid. On the one hand, it can be said that they were frozen by our two armies, and on the other hand, it also shows that Beidaying lacks a backbone at the moment."

A hint of unrestrained smile appeared on Uesugi Tuo's face, "Nanqing's equipment and military strength is far above us. If... Yan Xiaoyi is still alive, five days ago, he would order to abandon two other gaps, encircle Cangzhou, and swallow my 40,000 troops alive. However, who dares to issue this adventurous military order at the moment?"

"Yan Xiaoyi is dead, and Shi Fei comes. Although that general Shi is not as good as Yan's governor, he is also a powerful character. He is not at ease with him. He transferred him to the Kyoto Garrison." Uesugi Tu sneered: "Bei Daying was involved in the rebellion, and Emperor Qing was very afraid. How could these generals of the Beidaying now have the fierce arrogance under Yan Xiaoyi back then?"

"In recent years, Nan Qing seems to have accumulated national strength and prepared to invade our Daqi, but in fact he is damaging his national strength, especially in Beidaying... Emperor Qing is an amazing person, but these amazing people under his command have died one after another." Uesugi Tu sighed, as if he felt a little bored, and said, "Since that's the case, if my 100,000 troops go in and walk, who can stop me?"

"Conservative is their best choice, their worst choice, and their last choice... It's just that smart Cangzhou guard. I'm afraid it won't be able to suppress the desire of Beidaying to counterattack for too long."

“So it’s just two days later.”

After saying this, Uesugi Tsuki left the house, leaving behind generals looking at each other. The snow outside the house had already started, and the snowflakes were not big, which was a bit annoying. Uesugi Tsuki narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked at the busy soldiers and logistics officials in the city, and a very complicated emotion appeared on his face. He thought of the emperor in the capital. He thought of the last time His Majesty urgently announced that he had entered the palace and ordered him to send troops at any cost to help Dongyi City stabilize.

The front of the Beidaying was to attract the roadside troops in Yanjing City to help Dongyi City to relieve the pressure. A chill flashed in Uesugi Tiger's eyes, thinking that even if the powerful man in the south really wanted to turn against Emperor Qing, would it really be worthwhile to pay such a big price for Northern Qi?

Whether it is cost-effective or not, the Northern Qi military operation will eventually come at a price. As Uesugi Tsuki analyzed, on the sixth day of the war, the Nanqing military finally made an extremely powerful reaction. The two elite soldiers from Beidaying rushed towards Cangzhou City in the form of crab claws, and the other two military camps were all out, braved the slight snow falling from the sky. They rushed towards the other two armies as they first entered the border of Northern Qi.

In just one day, three beacons ignited, and on the wasteland in the central and northern part of the continent, it suddenly became a killing field. Cavalry were charging, bowstrings were bouncing, arrows were flying across the sky, iron spears pierced into the wild, blood burst out, flames everywhere, corpses were escorted in the dirty blood, and the sound of killing soared into the dark clouds in the sky.

The land that had been silent for several years finally became lively due to the brazen attack of the Northern Qi army. A total of more than 100,000 life-scenes battlefields were entangled. At this moment, the curtain was opened and a place was killed vigorously.

However, the screen was quickly pulled back by Uesugi.

The Cangzhou garrison, who had no trace of blood on his body, walked out of the city under the escort of his personal soldiers, watched his subordinates clean the battlefield coldly, looked at the arrow branches deeply inserted into the dead trees, and listened to the screams of the wounded from time to time, without any emotion on his face. As a soldier, it is natural to fight for His Majesty, but there is always a chill in his heart, and the chill can't be removed, even the joy after this tragic victory cannot be diluted.

After a night of forced marching, the two reinforcements of the Qing army finally formed an encirclement with the defenders outside Cangzhou City. However, before they could wait for a moment to rest, they suddenly discovered that the Northern Qi army seemed to have signs of leaving the formation.

The Qing army was mighty, how could it be that the enemy could come to the border and leave with a slight swaying. A charge that was not prepared was started like this. Fortunately, the Beidaying border soldiers fought for years, and the Qing Kingdom's military power was extremely powerful, so such a hasty attack maintained an extremely powerful impact.

However, the elite Northern Qi trained by Uesugi Tsuki were not good at it. After a big battle, the Northern Qi army still kept the formation in extremely intact after throwing down more than a thousand corpses. At an unimaginable speed, they left the front battlefield and abandoned several battalions of abandoned children with great force, without giving the Nanqing border army any chance to pursue.

This battle, no, should be said to be an inexplicable battle ended here. Nan Qing had the advantage of the territory and the advantages he had, so he naturally won, but this victory did not achieve the expected results.

The people of Northern Qi ran too fast.

Looking at the captured supplies and food, the Cangzhou guards narrowed their eyes and felt a hint of coldness. He finally understood why he didn't see the siege equipment of the Northern Qi people at the beginning. Even if they were trapped, the other party would not have carried a ladder.

It turned out that the other party was just preparing to fight a war and ran away. They didn't bring any baggage that they couldn't bear. The entire army was lightly equipped. No wonder they were about to leave at the end but did not collapse. They ran like idiots.

Why did they run away? The highest general in Cangzhou once again fell into deep thought. He knew that he was not a match for Uesugi, but if he could truly understand Uesugi's thoughts, he would be targeted and would not win the battle like before him, but he was still afraid.

On the second day, shocking battle reports were also heard on the other two battlefields. The two elite Northern Qi troops were not far-reaching. When the Nanqing army outside Cangzhou City carried out a siege and attacked the remaining military forces of the Beida camp at the same time, killing towards the enemy camp at the border... However, the two elite Northern Qi troops actually ran faster!

All the generals of the Beidaying became alert. They didn't know what kind of abacus the famous general of the Northern Qi Dynasty was fighting, so they forcibly restrained their subordinates and did not let Nan Qing's iron cavalry take advantage of the counterattack to enter the border of the Northern Qi Dynasty.

On the third day, bad news came. Forty thousand elite Northern Qi troops who escaped from the city of Cangzhou were walking back to the territory of Northern Qi, and they interspered eastward in an unusually wonderful way, entering the territory of Song State in Dongyi City. They occupied a prefecture city on the border of Song State.

It is said that the troops in the Song State City did not resist at all, and Dongyi City also responded, so that the 40,000 elite troops entered the Zhou State City.

This prefecture city seems inconspicuous, and its traces are almost deserted. No force has noticed it in the past. However, now Uesugi Tiger is leading troops in, and there is a big red dot on the map. The Nanqing military opened its eyes and found that the prefecture city happened to be in the middle of the Beidaying and Yanjing City. It was like a fish bone, and all the soldiers in Nanqing were extremely uncomfortable!

Could this be Uesugi Tsubaki’s true intention?

In the battle of Cangzhou, Northern Qi was defeated and Nan Qing won, which seemed like this, but was this inexplicable war over like this?

More than ten days passed. The Supervisory Council sent information to the generals of the North Daying at the same time as the military intelligence system. After the 100,000 troops of the North Qi retreated into the border, they did not retreat and rest. Instead, they began to camp on the spot, and the depths of the North Qi's vast border began to continuously transport various supplies to the south.

The storm was about to come, which was obviously a precursor to a decisive war. Coupled with the inconspicuous prefecture captured by Uesugi, the Nanqing military immediately became alert. Before the Kyoto decree arrived, it had already begun to prepare for the real war.

The war may be next spring?

The general Wang Zhikun in Yanjing City was also forced to take his attention back from the direction of Niutou Mountain and bet on the 40,000 Northern Qi troops that were above his head. He frowned and was extremely angry. He never thought that the variables that Fan Xian used were actually colluding with the people of Northern Qi!

Immediately afterwards, the decree of Kyoto arrived and was passed to the senior generals of Yanjing City and Beidaying. No one knew what the Emperor of Qing Kingdom said in the decree, but since that decree, the military forces in the northern part of Qing Kingdom began to rest, lie dormant, and calm down.

Immediately afterwards, Yun Zhilan, the lord of Dongyi City, expressed the strongest protest and anger at the blatant attacks of the people of Northern Qi, saying that Dongyi City would stand beside His Majesty the Great Emperor of Qing Kingdom and would give all the most violent devastating blows to all invaders.

The most terrifying Thirteenth Sword Lu in Dongyi City suddenly disappeared. I don’t know where I went. I got the news that the defense force of Uesugi Hushuai Camp in that prefecture city immediately stepped up a lot.

Just as chaos gradually arose in the northern part of the mainland, the Northern Qi Palace was peaceful. Concubine Li, who was favored by His Majesty, looked at His Majesty the lazy emperor on the couch, bit her lip and said softly: "Dongyi City has been saved for Fan Xian. His Majesty has paid so much, I really don't know what he should give to you."
Chapter completed!