Yecheng has become a city of ice.

The Jin army would pour water on the city wall every day, as if putting on a piece of ice armor for Yecheng.

In this weather, the power of fire oil has been greatly diminished.

It could only be bombarded with artillery every day, with little effect, and there was only one white spot on the city wall.

The soldiers' movements were also much sluggisher than usual due to the cold.

Even the most Qiang people are a little unbearable.

None of this is the worst news, and the grain and grass in the rear are starting to strain, because of the heavy snow, the deadline is often lost.

"Why don't you temporarily return to Luoyang and wait for the spring to warm up next year?" Wei Qian said.

"If there is a shortage of food this year, will there be no shortage of food next year? If the soldiers retreat, they are afraid that they will be tired next year, miss their parents, wives and children, and have no fighting spirit! Strike iron while it's hot, the sky won't destroy the Sima family, and I will destroy it! Yang Zheng said categorically.

Now that the ice and snow are blocking the road, is Luoyang so easy to retreat?

If the Jin army counterattacks at this time, it is only afraid that the army will be defeated like a mountain......

According to the news sent back by the scouts, the three Xianbei tribes had gone south to Qinghe and were eyeing Yecheng.

Cold resistance is also the advantage of Xianbei people, and the bitter cold of Liaodong is still above Liangzhou.

So the best thing to do is to nest in Yecheng.

"But the grain and grass are not enough."

"Killing livestock to make soup for the soldiers to drink, and killing war horses after killing livestock, we are difficult, and Sima Yan is even more difficult." Yang Zheng was mentally prepared.

Great Qin has the advantage, but Sima Yan also has the power to fight back.

I used to fight with the wind, but Wei Qian has the mentality of a strategist, always wanting to take advantage of the small and big.

The general trend of the world has now tested the resilience and will of both sides.

When the Jin army retreated back to Yecheng, more than 13,000 people surrendered.

This shows that the morale of the enemy army has been loosened, and it is almost the last breath, and now retreat, and the next time it will be even more difficult to fight.

It was not easy to launch such a big war, with 400,000 troops, war horses and livestock, the entire Qin State was mobilized.

The people can endure it for the first time, but in the long run, they will definitely not be able to bear it.

Wei Qiang's eyes flashed, "The minister has a plan, he can release the surrendered Jin army!" ”

"Release?" Yang Zheng probably understood what he meant.

"Exactly, these people stay in the camp and increase the burden of grain and grass, it is better to let them return to their hometowns and preach His Majesty's kindness, since these people are sincere, indicating that their hearts are in Daqin, they will not want to work for Sima Yan, Sima Yan forcibly levies grain and grass, young and strong, or can achieve miraculous results, secondly, it can also be interspersed with fine work, and go deep into the cities of Hebei......"

"Yes." Yang Zheng originally wanted to drive these people to attack the city and use them as cannon fodder.

However, looking at Yecheng's posture, he will not be able to take it for a while and a half, so there is no need to sacrifice so many people's lives in vain.

Ordered to give each Jin soldier twenty catties of dry food and let them return to their hometowns.

The Jin army was overjoyed and bowed to Yang Zheng's tooth stub one after another.

There are more than 3,000 people who don't want to go, they have long lost their families, they are alone, their hometown is in ruins, and they are only willing to die for Daqin.

Many of them have gray hair, their faces are covered with scars, their eyes are gray, and they are wrapped in death, and they don't know how many years they have been fighting, they have already become professional soldiers, they can only fight, nothing else, and they don't know what to do when they leave the barracks.

Yang Zheng arranged them into a death camp, and let them eat meat at once and occasionally drink wine.

The two sides were again locked in a standoff.

And the winter is getting colder.

Someone went out to pee at night, and when they were found the next day, they were frozen into ice sculptures.

Someone's ear leaks out, and when it is twisted slightly, it falls off, and the person does not feel any pain at all.

Livestock and horses froze to death in large numbers.

Not to mention fighting in this kind of weather, it's good to be alive.

Every day at noon, when the temperature is at its highest, the Qin army will send out more than 20,000 people to cut wood and search for hay.

At night, a bonfire is lit, whole cows and sheep are roasted, and the food is shared on the shelf.

Or boil it into a broth, steaming hot, and take a bite to warm your body and mind.

Eating meat in this kind of weather is more resistant to the cold.

Xuanyilang was in full swing, and various programs were staged in turn.

Either Sima Yan killed his father, or Sima Zhao killed the king.

Even if you watch it no less than a hundred times, every time Sima Yi and Sima Zhao appear, it will cause a roar of anger.

When he saw Sima Shi being scared to death by Wen Yang, he clapped his hands and laughed again.

Yang Zheng inspected the barracks every day, and the soldiers were happy in their suffering, and life was not difficult.

But heating 400,000 people is a big problem after all.

The woods around Yecheng were all cut down by the Jin army.

The Qin army needed to go to Hanoi and Shangdang in the rear to cut wood, which was time-consuming, labor-intensive, and labor-intensive.

Yang Zheng pondered and meditated, what else could be used for warmth.

There was too little oil to burn only the corpses that had been buried......

When he thought of the underground, Yang Zheng's heart moved, there is still coal that can be burned underground!

Where is there more coal nearby? Shanxi, of course!

No, it's a state!

In later generations, it will be known as the coal capital, isn't it the current land of the state? Yang Zheng remembered that there was a large coal mine in Changye, that is, Shangdang, which was in the northwest of Yecheng, two or three hundred miles away.

Shangdang is really a good place!

Yang Zheng's brain spun rapidly.

Follow the local customs, and the fucking people almost forget that they are traversers!

You can't be brutal in the world, sometimes you still have to use your brain......

"Graphite, can there be graphite in the army?" Yang Zheng asked Wei Qian.

In the pre-Qin period, coal was called stone nirvana, and in the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was called graphite.

During the Western Han Dynasty, coal was made into cakes on a large scale, used to smelt steel, cast into Han swords, and defeated the Xiongnu.

In addition to giving advice, Wei Qian is also responsible for logistics.

"Graphite? What does Your Majesty want to do with this? Wei Qian's eyes rolled around, and suddenly his eyes lit up, "Two months ago, Daijun Taishou Wang Yan sent a thousand catties of graphite, which was in the left camp. ”

Wang Yan is Ma Long's deputy general.

After the battle of Chudaijun, Ma Long recommended Wang Yan as the Taishou of the Shangdang, saying that this person was brave and strategic, and he was well versed in military strategy, and the Shangdang was lacking this person to sit in charge.

Now it seems that this person is simply the lucky star of Great Qin!

Yang Zheng was overjoyed and rushed to the left camp with Wei Qian.

Find this batch of "graphite" from the corner.

According to the memory of later generations, the craftsmen who accompanied the army made a furnace with loess and wooden frames according to their own ideas, and then mixed coal and loess to make briquettes, and a cross-era thing appeared.

Although the shape is a little ugly, it is absolutely practical, looking at the long-lasting and stable flame in the furnace, Yang Zheng feels warm both physically and mentally.

With this thing, Sima Yan is afraid that he will be planted this time.

"Your Majesty is really a god!" Wei Qian saw the value of this thing at a glance.

Burning firewood, unable to control the size of the fire.

At the end of 400,000 people a day, dry firewood is also an astronomical amount, and in one winter, I am afraid that the trees in the whole of Hebei will not be enough to burn.

The stove can control the size of the flame and can not be extinguished all day long.

The key is inexhaustible!

"Decree the Daijun Taishou Wang Yan, and send graphite with all his might, as much as you want!"

"Yui!" The scout heard the eagerness in Yang Zheng's tone, and did not dare to delay for a moment, and galloped away.

"Send all the hardy Mobei horses to pull coal." Yang Zheng came down again and ordered.

The party is condescending, and it is also convenient to send coal.

In the city where the Jin army was located, the wilderness was all under the world of the Qin army, and there was no difficulty in transporting coal.

(End of chapter)