"Oh!"
Han Lei withdrew her hand, quietly waiting for Zhao Zun to answer her question.
Han Lei's fingertips were cold and soft, like a cloud brushing through Zhao Zun's heart. As she pulled away, he found himself feeling a bit nostalgic.
Zhao Zun's gaze followed Han Lei's small hand for a while before he weakly started to speak.
"There are many countries around the Da Jing Dynasty, with the northern border touching Ala, the Turkic Country, and the Meng Country. Yong'an City and Ling'an City are the passes on the northern front of Da Jing, and my troop of one hundred thousand soldiers is the garrison in these two cities..."
Zhao Zun spoke very calmly. Before he fell unconscious, he observed carefully that everything appearing alongside Han Lei did not belong to any country surrounding Da Jing.
As a marshal of the border troops, he was very attentive and knowledgeable about the strengths of these neighboring countries.
Even the more powerful Dongming Empire couldn't create such exquisite emergency vehicles, let alone have weapons capable of long-range killing with just a simple "click."
If Dongming Empire had such a big weapon, it would have long become the hegemon of this continent. Why is it still so peaceful?
Countries weaker than the Dongming Empire couldn't possibly have such powerful equipment.
The main thing is, iron is scarce, not to mention refined iron. Where did they get such good refined iron to craft this peculiar emergency vehicle?
Therefore, Zhao Zun felt that even if this mysterious woman wasn't a friend, she definitely wasn't an enemy, so it should be fine to tell her some things.
Moreover, when Zhao Zun just woke up, he happened to catch onto the keywords "cross over" and "stay for a lifetime."
This further confirmed his judgment, even though he didn't understand what crossing over was.
Zhao Zun licked his chapped lips and continued speaking.
"The Turkic Country is cold, living off nomadic means, lacking clothes and food. Usually, they attack south after the autumn harvest before winter. We already fought a battle after this autumn harvest, not expecting that after winter set in, the Turkic gathered their troops again to attack Yong'an City."
"Were your forces insufficient, causing defeat?"
Han Lei remembered the earlier scene of a marshal being pursued like a stray dog by the Turkic people, truly looking quite tragic.
Watch your words!
Zhao Zun shot her a glare and shook his head.
"The fifty thousand garrisons of Ling'an City need to guard against Ala Country and Meng Country, so they can't be redeployed to offer support. But the fifty thousand troops in Yong'an City are sufficient to deal with the Turkic's suddenly gathered army."
"The Ministry of War usually allocates the rations for our northern garrison, delivered on time and in full each month from Jingzhou and Canzhou. In case of wartime, additional supplies are gathered nearby."
This time, Han Lei didn't interrupt him and listened quietly as he continued.
"But after the last battle, the remaining rations couldn't last for several days, and next month's supplies were still over ten days away. I had to order an urgent collection in Canzhou and an express report to the court."
"CanZhou was already a barren place, further depleted by years of war. The collected provisions were pitifully small. The siege of Yong'an City dragged on for almost a month, and the supplies from Canzhou quickly ran out."
"But the court's provisions had no news. The soldiers could only chew on bark and roots to stave off hunger. I repeatedly sent people to inquire, and each time they were told it's still being collected."
As she heard this, Han Lei felt an extraordinary weight on her heart. It's said that before an army moves, the provisions must go first, and as a soldier herself, she could naturally empathize.
Han Lei unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Zhao Zun, "Couldn't you use Ling'an City's military rations first?"
This time, Zhao Zun gave her a look of appreciation, propped himself up, and took a fierce gulp of the sweet mineral water.
"Ling'an City is also awaiting next month's military provisioning, but in desperation, I have reallocated some to support Yong'an City first. Even if it means making thin porridge, it can at least tide over Yong'an City's soldiers for a few more days."
"I was worried about Yong'an City's situation and wanted to see for myself, yet I didn't want Ala and Meng Country's spies to know I wasn't in Ling'an City. So, I donned a trusted aide's armor and left the camp with only twenty trusted aides just before dawn, quietly escorting provisions."
Beside them, Xiao Zhengfei blinked, his eyes fixated on the bottle of mineral water. So that's how the thing was opened.
Xiao Zhengfei also felt parched, recalling Han Lei's action of unscrewing the cap, he picked up his bottle and copied her motion to drink deeply.
"Uh... Miss Han. Is there any food?" Xiao Zhengfei wiped off the water marks at the corner of his mouth and asked. Since he already drank the water, asking for food wouldn't be embarrassing, right?
"Oh, yes, yes, yes!"
Han Lei smacked her forehead, immediately fetching some boxes of milk and packets of bread from the passenger seat to give them.
How had she not thought of it earlier? Since they were short on food, even a prince might go hungry!
Watching Zhao Zun and Xiao Zhengfei tear open the bread packaging and devour the food, Han Lei hurriedly inserted the straws into their milk.
"What is this? It smells so good."
Xiao Zhengfei sighed with satisfaction, as if he had tasted a delicacy from heaven.
Zhao Zun swallowed the bread in his mouth, nodding repeatedly.
"This is milk and bread. Take your time, there's more in my car."
Watching their hungry manner, Han Lei felt a pang of sympathy.
Xiao Zhengfei nodded vigorously.
They were indeed very hungry.
When they set out at dawn, they only had a bowl of thin porridge and half a slice of bread reflecting back their own images, and now it was already evening.
Seeing them slow down their eating, Han Lei asked, "The provisions you were escorting, did those Turkic people rob them just now?"
Zhao Zun shook his head, "Some of the provisions never arrived, while the rest fell off a cliff."
"Huh?" Han Lei was stunned, "How did they fall off a cliff?"
Zhao Zun let out a long sigh, with a deeply pained expression in his eyes.
Seeing Zhao Zun in such a bad mood, Xiao Zhengfei continued the explanation.
"The prince originally decided to take the official road, but while passing by Yin Mountain, a trusted aide suddenly suggested taking the iron bridge in the mountain pass of Yin Mountain to save half the journey. The prince was anxious about Yong'an City's situation, so he agreed."
"That iron bridge is narrow and long, only allowing two people to pass side by side. The prince led ten trusted aides in front, crossing the bridge successfully."
"And then?"
Han Lei looked at him, a bit tense.
Xiao Zhengfei sighed, "The horses carrying the provisions lined up, and just as they reached the middle of the bridge, it suddenly collapsed. The horses and supplies all plunged into the ravine. The remaining provisions and the trusted aides were on the other side of the bridge."
Han Lei's eyebrows raised slightly, as if she was capturing some hidden detail.
Xiao Zhengfei continued, "We tried to find a way back to meet up with them, but didn't get far before hundreds of Turkic people ambushed us from the woods nearby."
Han Lei rubbed her chin, frowning, finally catching the key point.
"Hearing your story, why do I feel there's a traitor among your trusted aides?"