meet again

Five days later, the army arrived at the border.

The arrival of reinforcements greatly boosted the morale of the frontier troops who had suffered heavy casualties after successive defeats.

The chief general of the frontier army, Yuan Qing, led all the generals above the fifth rank under his command to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince and General He and his party.

"General Yuan, please get up quickly." Zhu Yun was quite tired after driving for several days.However, in front of everyone, he had to maintain the decency that the prince should have, cheered up, showed a refreshing smile, and helped Yuan Qing up with his own hands.

Yuan Qing thanked her gratefully and stood up.Their eyes met, and the uncle and nephew who had never met before quickly looked at each other.

Yuan Qing had just passed his fifties this year, and his appearance was five points similar to Yuan Hai's, and he was a bit more sharp than Yuan Hai's, with the sharpness of battle and the majesty of commanding an army.

The war was unfavorable, Yuan Qing had trouble sleeping and eating recently, and was a little more haggard than usual.

In Yuan Qing's eyes, the handsome and upright His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the young girl in his memory looked alike, and they felt close at a glance.

"Your Highness has worked hard all the way!" Yuan Qing opened his mouth and said, "There is also General He, who has come all the way and worked hard. Please Your Highness and General He go to settle down and rest first."

It was really hard work for the army to go on the road. All the soldiers had to rest for two or three days before they could go into battle to kill the enemy.

General He was not polite to Yuan Qing, and nodded in response.Then he led the army into the city, set up camp and repaired.

Zhu Yun didn't need to live in a military tent, but lived in the general's mansion.Prince Zhao and others naturally accompanied him.

This journey was really hard, and the pampered sons and sons of the honorable clan were miserable.Now that they were finally able to settle down, they almost wept with joy, and couldn't wait to enter the general's mansion.Everyone brought their own soldiers with them, and of course they don't need to worry about things like arranging luggage.First throw yourself on the warm and soft bed, and get a good night's 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 clasped his hands and fisted, meeting Yuan Qing with the courtesy of a junior.

A warm current surged in Yuan Qing's heart, and he hurriedly said: "Your Highness is rich in gold and jade, how can you salute your courtiers? This is absolutely impossible."

Zhu Yun said with a smile: "When a nephew sees his uncle, it's right for him to be a junior. From now on, in front of everyone, we are monarchs and ministers, and we are uncles and nephews in private. Uncle, don't give birth to me."

The nephew of a direct relative is different.

Even though they had never met each other only by correspondence in the past, when they meet now, there is no sense of strangeness.That is closeness from blood.

Yuan Qing stretched his brows and asked about Empress Yuan's recent situation with a smile without being overly polite.

Zhu Yun said with a smile: "My mother's temperament is the same as when she was young. She will get close to anyone she likes, and she will not talk to anyone she doesn't like. She has a good appetite every day, eats well and sleeps well."

Yuan Qing heard it in his ears, and felt extremely relieved.

The queen of a country, the mother of the world, Yuan Xiang has already won the honor of the world, and the exclusive favor that all women envy.

Not to mention an emperor, even ordinary men have to take concubines when they become prosperous.However, Emperor Qing'an has always guarded his original wife and loved his wife, and never dyed them. This kind of 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.

Gossiping about the commonplace quickly narrowed the distance between uncle and nephew.

Zhu Yun asked in a low voice: "Uncle, there are [-] frontier troops, even if some were killed or injured, there are still [-] to [-] people. Why are you defeated one after another?"

When talking about the war, Yuan Qing couldn't laugh anymore, and sighed, his voice was full of bitterness: "There are no outsiders here, so I might as well say something heartfelt to His Highness. The frontier army is not as powerful as Tatar Rouran's elite soldiers. In the past, they were able to defend because the Tatars fought endlessly. Even if they sent troops, they did not dare to come out. At most half of the troops were dispatched. This time, it was an alliance between the two clans, and the army was dispatched together, plus other troops. The tribes sent troops together, with a total strength of about [-]. If they faced each other head-on, the frontier army would be hard to resist."

"In the beginning, we lost three border cities one after another. The frontier troops suffered heavy casualties and their morale was low. Later, I issued a military order and ordered everyone to guard the city gates, and finally managed to stabilize the battle situation."

"The people in Rouran are the most brutal. They drive the kidnapped women and children outside the city gate, and torture and kill innocent people in front of the guards. As a result, the morale of the frontier troops is even lower."

These details were briefly mentioned in the battle report.At this moment, after listening to Yuan Qing's detailed explanation, Zhu Yun's heart was full of strong anger, and he gritted his teeth and said angrily: "These Rouran people really deserve to be killed!"

Yuan Qing smiled wryly and continued: "Seeing that this trick worked, the Tatars learned from it and drove the people to attack the city. The soldiers had to shoot arrows at the people to defend the city. The bones, the blood is flowing like a river!"

"Your Highness, what I'm most afraid of now is not that I can't defend the city gate, but a mutiny in the army."

Zhu Yun was startled suddenly, and looked up at Yuan Qing.

Yuan Qing was full of worry, and sighed again and again: "In the past few days, the Tatars have attacked the city one after another. Your Highness might as well take a look for yourself, and you will know."

……

Three days later, His Royal Highness witnessed a siege battle.

Outside the strong city gate, the strong and fierce cavalry cavalry of the Guanwai Alliance waved their banners, shouting and cursing from time to time.

There are more than a dozen Daqi people who are scolding and fighting in the city.These people are all men with loud voices, swearing and swearing in a dialect familiar to the frontier soldiers.

One or two refused to open their mouths, and the Tatars behind them swung their long knives suddenly, and they died tragically under the knives, bloody.

After cursing for half an hour, the siege began.Hundreds of ragged civilians were forced forward by the sharp long knife behind them.There were bursts of screams and cries, either from women, old people, or children under the age of eight or nine.

These old and weak women and children were driven to the gate of the city by the cavalry, or died under the bows and arrows of the guards, or died from the long sword behind them.The worst one was a pregnant woman who was trampled to death by several horses.It was unbearable to witness that miserable and terrible scene.

There was also a six or seven-year-old boy who was cut into a bloody man with a single knife, and he howled for a long time before he died.

Hell on earth, but that's it.

Looking at this tragedy in the world, Zhu Yun's blood boiled with passion and he was furious.The whole body is shaking.

Yuan Qing had seen many such scenes, and could barely hold on.General He frowned, his face was extremely ugly, and his tears glistened with murderous intent.

As for Prince Zhao and the others, they were already trembling all over their bodies, and their stomachs were writhing with nausea.I don't know who was the first to turn around, and vomited with a wow.Suddenly there was a sound of nausea.

Zhu Yun's stomach was also churning.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, suppressed the roaring rage in his heart, and said to Yuan Qing: "General Yuan, I have ordered the soldiers defending the city to repel the incoming enemies."