Chapter 366: Where is She Now!? (1) (2/2)

It wasn’t until the faint light of day had broken over the horizon that He Sanlang was finally able to slip into slumber.

Time passed quickly. The Tuhuns had practically stopped all attacks on the frontline. They would only send small parties to launch sneak attacks from time to time, clearly trying to play the waiting game with the border troops.

The Tuhuns’ living conditions had been poor from the start. This wasn’t the first time they had started eyeing the Great Wu Dynasty’s rich, fertile fields.

The Tuhuns weren’t like the people of the Great Wu. They had been living on the grasslands and icy mountains of the region for generation after generation, and as a result, they were well-used to the harsh, bitter conditions, particularly the winter’s icy winds and snowstorms that the border troops had difficulties with. Furthermore, the Tuhuns had been plotting an invasion for years. They had their ways to pass this harsh winter.

As the snow fell even harder and the days grew even colder, the conditions were turning more and more to their favour.

It was an entirely different matter on the side of the Liangzhou border troops. The government had been spending huge sums to maintain the army at the border. There were quotas set on the military supplies sent every season. The relative peacetime of the Great Wu Dynasty meant that the military officials didn’t have as much influence and respect in court. Meanwhile, the literary officials spread ideals of leading the nation with virtue rather than weaponry. This was most evident in the previous year, when the cabinet had argued for months over the budget set for military expenditure.

When the turn of the year had come around, military spending had been cut down even further, rather than increased.

Thus, the border troops were in imminent danger.

Due to the early snows in Liangzhou this year, the army’s winter supplies hadn’t been able to make it here in time. It was as if their lifeline had been cut.

The Tuhuns had spent a decade sharpening their blades, waiting for this chance. Although their weapons couldn’t be compared to the Great Wu’s, they had the advantage, having prepared enough food to last the whole of winter. It was the Liangzhou border troops who couldn’t afford to wait.

One of the officers had bristled with anger at the Tuhuns’ tactics. He suggested gathering all fifty thousand soldiers and feeding them a good meal before sending them out to trample the Tuhun army without leaving a trace!

The Liangzhou army was under the command of Duke Lu, so they weren’t a bunch of cowardly soldiers. They had the courage to die on the battlefields to protect their country.

The soldiers were good soldiers and the leaders were good leaders. However, the Tuhun army wasn’t stupid. They weren’t going to stand out and let the border troops attack them without fighting back, nor did they leave their supplies out for just anyone to discover.

The northern border was a huge land with a sparse population. Sometimes they wouldn’t even see a single soul out there on the grass plains.

The Tuhuns were used to living in these conditions and scrabbling for survival. Guerilla warfare and hiding were what they were good at, and this was well-suited to the northern border’s large space.

The most likely result from the angry officer’s suggestion would be their fifty thousand soldiers dying of hunger or exposure after crossing the river without finding a single hint of the Tuhuns…

Thus, all they could do was wait as their supplies dwindled down. If they wanted to bring supplies in, they would have to think of a way to get to the heartlands of the Great Wu.