Female-to-male: I live on farming

When the Qin army suddenly launched a war upon approaching, the Zhenbei Army resisted for a while before being defeated.

The winter in the north is long and snowy all year round. It is difficult to defend the north in this environment. In addition, the Zhenbei Army is no longer the Zhenbei Army of more than ten years ago. There is a lack of good generals in the army. The armor and weapons were made seven or eight years ago and have never been replaced. All these reasons have led to a serious decline in the combat effectiveness of the Zhenbei Army.

Moreover, since the war began, food and grass in the North have been stretched to the limit. The soldiers are hungry and cold, so how can they have the energy to fight a bloody battle with the enemy?

The Qin State was well prepared. Ever since it was defeated by Dayan many years ago and suffered heavy losses, its national strength declined significantly. It began to recuperate, store up food and fodder, and train its troops on a large scale, just to avenge its previous humiliation one day.

In just half a month, the battle line had been pushed to Shaoping Pass, and one-third of Jiaozhou had fallen into the hands of the Qin army. If the fighting continued, the war would spread to Xuzhou, which was adjacent to the capital. If this happened, the State of Yan would be in danger.

For a time, the morale of the Zhenbei Army was low and spread like a plague, and the team began to disintegrate.

Not until the Changnan Army arrived to reinforce did the northern border's defense line finally stop its retreat, but only about 80,000 of the 150,000 Zhenbei Army were left.

With the support of the Changnan Army, although the Changnan Army and the Zhenbei Army have always been at odds, at this time with foreign enemies in front of them, they put aside their differences and united to face the outside world.

As a result, the war in the north was temporarily stalemate, with large and small battles occurring from time to time, but the overall situation did not change for the time being.

After all, the Qin State was located in the north of the Yan Dynasty, where the people were tough and martial, and they were adaptable and good at winter warfare.

The Zhenbei Army was better off, but the Changnan Army was not adapted to the winter battlefield, and its combat power could only be exerted at about half in the northern border.

But not long after, an imperial edict was suddenly delivered to the army, ordering the Changnan Army to go to Yizhou to suppress the princess's rebellion.

Qin Zheng, the commander of the Zhenbei Army, stood at the pass, looking at the Changnan Army gradually disappearing from his sight on the vast land in the distance, with mixed feelings in his heart.

There was a hint of sadness in his expression, as he had been guarding the northern border for many years and was exposed to the cold every day, so his face looked rough and tough.

The deputy general standing behind him was also watching this scene, and his expression was indeed indignant. He asked: "General, what is the court thinking? The Changnan Army has withdrawn from the northern border. If the Qin Army attacks again at this time, how can we resist it?"

There were only two possible outcomes for them at this time: either defend the line and fight to the last man; or withdraw. However, in this case, Jiaozhou would fall into the hands of Qin and they would become deserters.

Either outcome would be a desperate situation for them.

"No matter what, the Zhenbei Army cannot be deserters."

Qin Zheng was silent for a long time before he spoke.

The deputy general understood the general's choice. He spat and said fiercely, "Then we will fight to the death with those Qin barbarians. I am not afraid of them. Anyway, if Jiaozhou is destroyed, I will have no face to live."

"Once the Qin army finds out that the Changnan army has withdrawn and launches a general attack, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for even an hour!"

Another general added: "It snowed heavily two days ago. The Changnan Army still had some conscience and left most of the food and equipment behind. Otherwise, the soldiers would have collapsed before they could even attack us."

"The Changnan Army is not stupid. If we lose, Jiaozhou will be lost. Qin will attack Xuzhou with its wolfish ambitions. Then Dayan will be in danger."

"We are poorly clothed and hungry outside, but in the capital, there is a life of luxury and prosperity. The emperor has taken in countless concubines in the past few years. The money spent on cosmetics alone in the harem is as high as 400,000 taels a year! And how much can we soldiers earn after fighting so hard all year?"

And even if they died in this battle, it is still unknown whether they can get any pension.

……

Everyone was talking about it, and most of them spoke with resentment in their tone.

Indeed, they fought bloody battles here, but the imperial court did not care about their lives at all, and even ignored the safety of the northern border. Anyone would feel disheartened.

In the end, Qin Zheng's face turned cold and he shouted sternly: "Okay, go back and reorganize the military defense and strengthen the surveillance of the Qin army to prevent them from launching an attack."

He knew what they were saying.

He was transferred to the Zhenbei Army a few years ago. His Majesty transferred him here to prevent the Zhenbei Army from becoming the private army of the Xiao family, but it was also because he did not have a prominent background.

Otherwise, why couldn't he be transferred back for so many years given the harsh and cold conditions in the north?

But even if they withdraw, what will they do? The situation is already like this, and talking about it will not change the status quo, but will only make the army more shaken.

Although he forced the group of people to shut up, he was unable to stop their inner thoughts. After he left, he could no longer control whether the soldiers whispered to each other in private.

……

Not long after the Changnan Army withdrew from the northern border, the Qin Army learned the news. After all, how could such a large-scale withdrawal be concealed?

A few days later, the night was as dark as ink, and the north wind was howling, making people's faces hurt. Just as the soldiers in the camp were immersed in sleep, a sharp horn broke the silence of the night.

In the Zhenbei Army camp, the soldiers' sleepiness was instantly dispelled without a trace. At the same time, the shouts outside came one after another, breaking the silence of the night.

"Enemy attack——"

"Array-"

Fortunately, they would not take off their armor before going to sleep, just to prevent the enemy from launching a night attack. Hearing the sound of the gong outside and the chaotic footsteps, he was shocked and sat up instantly, picked up the spear at hand and ran out of the tent.

Qin Zheng knew that if the Qin army knew about the Changnan army, they would launch an attack sooner or later, so he slept very lightly at night. When he heard the movement outside, he immediately stood up, holding his sword and walked out of the tent, shouting loudly: "Beat the drum, meet the enemy!"

They had conducted many trainings against enemy attacks in recent days. Although the Qin army was a little panicked at the beginning of the night attack, they soon restored their formation following Qin Zheng's command.

The heavy shield soldiers formed the first line of defense on the periphery to resist the enemy's attack, and the spear soldiers followed closely behind them, thrusting out sharp and cold spears from behind the heavy shields to kill the enemies rushing up.

The archers in the rear kept shooting arrows, which fell like rain, and countless enemies died under the rain of arrows.

They reacted quickly and temporarily curbed the enemy's attack, and the two sides were in a stalemate for a while.

Suddenly, there was a fire shooting up into the sky and thick smoke billowing from the west camp. It was extremely obvious in the pitch-black night. Qin Zheng suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart, because their food and fodder were all in the west camp.