Chapter 371 Departure from Liangzhou
In the afternoon, Xiao Xia came to the military camp. At present, the military camp had been moved to Bashang. The soldiers had ended their vacation and began to prepare for the expedition.

Liu Wenjing also solved the transportation problem. He rented two thousand camels from the Sogdians, and the court allocated them three thousand camels at the rate of one camel for ten people. In this way, they could transport military supplies, mainly copper coins, armor, tents, dried meat, salt, etc., as well as the generals’ personal belongings. Xiao Xia’s own personal wealth also required hundreds of camels to transport.

Liu Wenjing sighed and said, “Two hundred thousand dan of grain cannot be transported, and there is also grain consumed on the way, so at least thirty thousand dan of grain is needed. I plan to hire another three thousand carts to solve the problem.”

Xiao Xia thought for a moment and said, “I have two suggestions. First, the grain can be handed over to the court. The court has built a Jincheng warehouse in Jincheng County, and then we can get grain from the Jincheng warehouse. Second, the same goes for tents and armor. Except for the soldiers’ own armor and the tents they need on the road, the extra tents and armor can be handed over to the court. There are also some in Jincheng warehouse. In fact, the same goes for copper coins. Except for personal copper coins, all other items can be handed over to the court. The Taifu Temple will give us a list of payments, and we can go to Jincheng warehouse to get them.”

Liu Wenjing hesitated and said, “I am worried that the court will regard our money, grain and supplies as part of the court’s allocation to us.

Xiao Xia had not thought of this question. This was indeed the case. Xiao Xia nodded and said, “The remaining tents can be handed over to the court. The cloth tents in the Central Plains are not suitable for Hexi. It is quite cold there. We must use wool tents or leather tents.”

“I consider that my family will also need tents, so there are not many.”

Xiao Xia suddenly realized and said with a smile: “I didn’t consider my family, so I’ll take them all away and rent some more cars.”

Liu Wenjing smiled again and said, “Your Highness’s personal belongings must also be packed and sent to the military camp as soon as possible. I can arrange camels.”

Xiao Xia nodded and instructed, “Since the families of the soldiers and clerks will also be accompanying us, we need to prepare more carriages. Men can ride horses, but women and children must ride in carriages. I can’t let my family ride in carriages while the soldiers’ families have to walk. That’s not acceptable.”

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I will make arrangements!”

Xiao Xia then went to the military camp again, had a talk with the soldiers, calmed them down and encouraged them to expand the country’s territory.

Time passed quickly and it was the second day of September. On that morning, Xiao Xia brought his family and more than ten servants who were willing to follow him to Hexi to the military camp. His hundreds of boxes of wealth had been delivered to the military camp in advance.

The military camp was very lively. Many soldiers’ families had come. The camp had prepared large tents for them, and there were also many children.

Xiao Xia also prepared four tents, one for him and his wife, one for Cui Mei, Xiao Qing and A Chu, one for several male servants, and one for the other maids and servants.

Although it can’t be compared with home, it’s the first time for everyone to live in a military camp, and it’s full of novelty.

The big tent was covered with thick carpet. Cui Yu was sitting on the carpet doing needlework, sewing a pair of underwear for her husband. These were boxer briefs designed by Xiao Xia herself, made of white satin. There were no underwear before the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which was one of the main reasons for sitting on one’s knees, as sitting with one’s legs spread out would easily expose one’s private parts.

Later, underpants appeared. The legs were relatively long and very inconvenient for exercise, so many people simply did not wear them.

Xiao Xia designed underwear for herself, and Xiao Qing sewed more than a dozen pairs. They also put them on, and now Cui Yu and Xiao Mei also put them on.

“How does it feel to be in the military camp?” Xiao Xia asked with a smile as he sat down next to his wife.

Cui Yu smiled and said, “It feels similar to the spring and autumn outings. At that time, the whole family went out to play and brought tents with them. If they couldn’t come back that day, they would just set up the tents outside. I was still young at that time and I liked the feeling of living in a big tent. Now it doesn’t matter.”

Xiao Xia nodded, “We will be walking for more than a month, and we will basically have to stay in a tent every night. It would be best if we can adapt. If that doesn’t work, we can sleep in the truck at night. Our truck is like a small room.”

“See! I will try my best to hold on. If I really can’t hold on any longer, I will have to sleep in the car. Actually, I’m afraid of insects.” Cui Yu said a little embarrassedly.

“Xiaomei is afraid of snakes, but you are afraid of bugs.”

Cui Yu smiled and said, “I’m more afraid of snakes. I get so scared when I see one that I can’t even walk.” Xiao Xia hugged her shoulders and said with a smile, “Don’t worry! I’m here, there won’t be any snakes.”

That night, everyone went to bed early.

Before dawn the next day, the camp became bustling. Everyone washed, had breakfast, and nervously packed up some personal belongings. Thirty thousand soldiers, accompanied by more than a thousand families, began to leave the camp and set off for the distant Wuwei County.

Xiao Xia will be stationed in the Hexi Grand Marshal’s Office, which is the former Hexi General Administration Office, in Guzang County, Wuwei County. He does not plan to be stationed in Zhangye this time. He also serves as the Grand Marshal of Longyou and the Grand Marshal of Shuofang. He must take care of all three parties, and Wuwei County is the most suitable one.

The siege of Nanyang County had been going on for a month. At the beginning, Yuwen Chengdu underestimated the enemy, resulting in repeated defeats and a loss of nearly 10,000 people. He had to retreat to Wuguan and ask for help from the court.

It was not until Shi Wansui arrived with 30,000 reinforcements that the unfavorable situation on the battlefield was gradually reversed.

Shi Wansui had rich experience in sieges. He specifically chose to attack cities at night. For the attacking soldiers, they could avoid arrows from the top of the city walls at night. Although they could not avoid them in reality, at least they had a sense of security psychologically.

But the night was a huge pressure for the soldiers defending the city. They didn’t know from which corner the enemy would emerge, nor did they know what advanced siege weapons the attacking soldiers would use. They couldn’t see them and would only discover them when the enemy was right in front of them.

Just after dusk that day, ten large catapults gradually approached the top of the city wall. The soldiers on the top of the city wall shouted nervously. They only saw a huge black shadow approaching, but could not see where the enemy was.

Shi Wansui looked at the top of the city wall and gave the order, “Fire!”

Ten large catapults went off with a bang, launching huge balls of fire into the city. When the fireballs reached the middle of the city, the ropes broke and they turned into millions of leaflets that flew into the city.

Letter to the Military and Civilians of Nanyang
The old emperor announced his abdication a month ago, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has ascended the throne as the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, supported by the whole nation. Only the two soldiers of Nanyang County still rebelled against the court and became traitors of the Sui Dynasty.

I am General Shi Wansui, and I have been ordered by the Emperor to cooperate with General Yuwen Chengdu in suppressing the Second Corps. You have been deceived and worked for the rebels. Considering your ignorance, I will give the soldiers and civilians an opportunity to immediately pledge allegiance to the court and resist the rebels.

If you refuse to repent, once the army enters the city, everyone will be punished as a rebel.

This is the last chance. If the city gates are not opened before dawn, the court will no longer accept surrender. Men and women will all be killed!

Those who surrender first will be rewarded with 5,000 strings of cash and appointed as Sima of Nanyang County.

In the room, the Wu brothers looked at each other in bewilderment. Once this leaflet was distributed, they knew that Nanyang City could not be defended.

“Brother, let’s go!”

Wu Tianxi said in a deep voice: “The world is so big, where can’t we find a place to stay?”

Wu Yunzhao sighed deeply, “Pack up and leave! I really can’t bear to see you bring trouble to the entire city’s military and civilians for us!”

The two Wu brothers immediately packed up their luggage, left Nanyang County with a dozen trusted subordinates, and headed towards Xiangyang.

Half an hour later, Lieutenant General Zhu Can took the lead in leading 5,000 troops to open the city and surrender. Tens of thousands of Sui troops then rushed into Nanyang County. The Battle of Nanyang, which had lasted for a month, finally ended.

(End of this chapter)