The war hasn't started yet, but those who are interested can already see some clues.
On the post road from Xinzheng to Guancheng, because it had just rained, the road was muddy and difficult to navigate, and all the servants pulling the carriages and horses scolded it.
"Xilulu——" Old Ma fell to his knees weakly, foaming at the mouth.
The carriage tilted, and under the horrified gaze of a servant, it suddenly rolled over and pushed him to the ground.
Grain bags fell one after another, crushing the servant until he vomited blood and his eyes were blind.
A grain bag was torn, and the yellow wheat spilled out, piled on his face, and soon buried him in the mud.
People shouted and rushed over, first righting the carriage and then pulling out the slaves.
The servant was only twitching, his mouth was full of wheat grains mixed with blood foam, and his eyes were looking at the sky blankly.
The sky was covered with dark clouds and was extremely solemn, as if silently paying homage to this slave who died in vain.
The war has not yet broken out, but there are already casualties.
Someone took off the leather harness on the draft horse's back and tried several times, but could not get the old horse to stand up again.
"It's hopeless." An old man with white hair sighed. He didn't know whether he was sighing for the draft horse or feeling sorry for the young slaves. It might be both.
Others watched all this in silence until a banker leader came over.
"What are you still waiting for?" He yelled: "The heavy rain and mud have already delayed the trip. We will prepare torches tonight and move forward overnight."
Everyone woke up from a dream and lifted up the grain bags one after another and piled them into the carriage.
A mule was brought from behind.
The old man put the leather muff on the mule and continued driving.
A group of soldiers passed by.
At a glance, there seemed to be hundreds of people, all with young faces. Behind each person was a mule, carrying water and equipment on its back, walking slowly through the muddy water.
The original appearance of their military uniforms could no longer be seen. They were all stained with mud and water, but no one cared about them and just kept their heads down as they walked on.
The old man withdrew his gaze and drove the mule cart slowly.
The leader of the banker specially assigned two young and strong servants to him, ready to assist at any time.
"Crash!" Not long after walking, the wheel fell into a deep rut again, and it was impossible to get out.
The old man got off the carriage and pointed with his riding crop.
The servant immediately took the firewood from the car and put it under the wheels.
A group of cavalry passed by, causing a large splash of mud and water.
The old man cursed secretly: "Mr. Chen gave you the horse, just to ride on it when you are not fighting? If you are caught by the people who raped the governor, you will be whipped."
After the firewood was piled up, the old man got on the carriage again, and the three of them cooperated and moved forward vigorously.
The old man kept waving his whip, and the mule's hooves slipped several times, which made him murmur in his heart: If the frame of the carriage is broken, he will not be able to walk at all.
Fortunately, with good luck, after another try, the heavy carriage finally got out of the ruts and continued to move forward unsteadily.
The old man wiped his sweat and sighed secretly: It is the common people who suffer in the war.
He subconsciously raised his head and looked ahead. The long motorcade stretched as far as the eye could see, extending directly to the distant horizon.
Just try harder, just try harder!
It was none of their business to take the grain to the river bank and load it on the boat.
After returning home, I still have a lot of work to do.
A group of sheep were sent from Luoyang and sold very cheaply. He just bought one.
It was so skinny that he could tell at a glance that it was a foreign sheep that had traveled a long distance. After asking again, he found out that it was indeed sent from a place called "Jinguyuan".
He was worried that his careless grandson would be able to take care of the sheep, so he wanted to go back as soon as possible to see if he could raise them to death.
In addition, it has been raining heavily for days and the roof is leaking, so I have to find time to repair it.
Alas, officials, please do your best and stop serving, okay?
****
In Putian Ze, as the bell rang, another group of boats left Hepu and headed for the big river.
Guo Song looked at the densely packed equipment in the cabin and was very envious.
After his uncle Li Ju became the commander of Xingyang, Wubao was left in charge of him.
He doesn't like to take care of general affairs, but he is very active in training. The most troublesome thing for him is the loss of swords, guns, bows and arrows.
These things are not cheap!
Official equipment may be much cheaper, but it rarely goes outside. Wubao handsome people like them have to either make it themselves or find someone to buy it, which is not easy in any case.
Take arrows for example. I heard that each soldier of the Silver Spear Army has thirty arrows in his quiver, and each arrow has different functions.
There are those that shoot directly at the armor, some that shoot diagonally at the city head, and some that are specially used for projectiles...
What a luxury this is!
It is true that arrows are not expensive, but they are also different from arrow to arrow.
The arrows made by their Wubao craftsmen cannot be straightened using terminals, resulting in poor quality arrows.
Later, a craftsman who escaped from the Zheng family in Kaifeng was invited to teach step by step how to heat the arrow shaft and how to use terminals to correct it. This problem was truly solved.
In addition to correction, I heard that the arrow shafts made by Guanye also need to be cut, polished, painted, wrapped with silk thread, etc. It is very tedious and the quality is not comparable to theirs.
This also allowed him to see clearly the gap between their small Wubao and the real aristocratic family.
"The war is all about money!" Guo Song shook his head and looked at the sandbank in Daze.
Duke Chen was about to fight, and they came out of Wubao for a hundred people, and on the order of Lord Pei, they came to Putianze to graze their cattle.
The county sent 30,000 sheep and drove them all the way from Jinguyuan. The journey of hundreds of miles was almost exhausting.
But you have to admit that the life of these little things is really tenacious. After gnawing on the fresh and juicy grass on the sandbank for ten days, their bodies bulged up visibly to the naked eye, and they slowly gained some weight.
Guo Song waded through the water and came to a small sandbar more than a hundred steps square, and looked carefully.
During the first year of life, cattle, horses, and donkeys receive twice as much, and sheep receive four times.
As long as there is enough fodder, this thing grows really fast.
Generally speaking, if there is one sheep at the beginning of the year, as long as you are not unlucky, there will probably be four by the end of the year.
However, the 30,000 sheep in front of us are not used for breeding. After they are raised, they will be sent further east to the Wenshijin area.
The pontoon bridge is being built over there, and eventually these 30,000 sheep will probably become the prey of the frontline sergeants.
He was about to go into battle and fight, so in order to boost morale, he naturally had to have a good meal, which he could understand.
There are several thatched houses built on the sandbank.
Guo Song knew that this was a temporary resting place for the shepherds. Without this war, many fort residents would come to graze on the sandbank, but all of them would be requisitioned by the government - grass is also a precious resource.
This made him realize more deeply how costly fighting a war was and how much inconvenience it would cause to the people.
When he was in Pingyang in his early years, he once thought that as long as he practiced martial arts well and formed military formations, wouldn't that be the case for fighting?
After coming to Henan with his uncle and taking care of everything by himself, he realized how naive that would be.
If you don't have someone to help you with logistics, you won't be able to fight the war.
His family's Wubao only produced a hundred men. There were countless Wubao and manor houses in Henan that were mobilized. Countless officials and scholars were as powerful as him, running around and delivering bags of grain.
, bundles of arrows, and sheep one by one sent to the front line.
Chen Gong quickly unified Henan, Wubao, and the manor around him, and finally reached the current situation.
On the contrary, if these people do not support him, his logistics will collapse instantly and he will not be able to fight any wars. Let alone eating sheep, it is very likely that people will eat each other.
Running an army and providing for the people is really not a simple matter, and it cannot be achieved by relying on fighting and killing.
****
Outside Fangtou South City, there was a lot of noise with people shouting and neighing.
Several temporary wooden bridges were erected on the Qishui River, and a large number of soldiers quickly passed through and arrived at the west bank of Qishui.
Yang Dan climbed up to the high platform, took a quick look, and immediately cursed.
How long has the war been going on here? All the woods have been cut down. Simple felling and setting up fences seems to be extremely difficult at this time.
With no choice, he could only ask the soldiers to dig trenches and build earthen walls for protection.
After the order was given, the sergeants received the equipment and immediately started working enthusiastically.
The mud on the river bank was relatively soft, making it very easy to dig. The trench extended at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Yang Dan looked around and was very satisfied.
They went to the west bank of Qishui to set up defenses, not to defend the city, but to protect Fangtou South City.
On the river, ships were parked everywhere, and people, horses, and goods were everywhere, making it a mess.
At this time, if the Huns sneaked across the Qishui River and rushed over to kill them, they would most likely cause the Confucius servants who had not had time to enter the city to blow up the camp, and the military supplies and supplies that had finally been brought in would be burned.
Therefore, they crossed the river and marched westward, setting up defenses and protecting the flanks of the southern city to prevent others from taking advantage of them.
In the distant wilderness, small groups of Xiongnu rangers watched quietly.
It is impossible to hide such a big movement from anyone. After all, this is an army of 60,000 to 70,000 people, not 600 to 700 people!
It is said that the scene was really big this time. Dozens of counties in Yu, Yan, Si, and Jing states were mobilized and tried their best to transport grain, grass and military supplies, which were stored in the north and south cities of Fangtou.
Even the Cangcheng was not enough, so temporary shelters, earthen houses, and wooden houses had to be built to store military supplies.
The three thousand vanguards under him were probably the first batch of troops to arrive at Fangtou.
Well, maybe it doesn't count, because there are still 4,000 Wancheng soldiers in the east of the city, commanded by the former Pinyang order Liang Su, who also went out to set up defenses and camped on the south bank of Baigou.
Those Kansai people!
Yang Dan chuckled and returned to the camp under the protection of his own soldiers.
On the big river, the sound of waves is still there, and hundreds of boats are vying for the current.
Sergeants and servants with various accents gathered here.
Every ship docking is accumulating energy for the upcoming war.
They brought armor from Xuchang, spears from Xiping, and powerful crossbows from Luoyang...
Millet from Chenliu, wheat from Yingchuan, and beans from Chenjun gather here.
War horses from Guangchengze, mules from Longpi Ranch, and cattle and sheep from Jinguyuan arrived one after another.
The officials escorting him were shouting at the top of their lungs, almost hoarse.
The officers leading the team yelled curses and whipped the clumsy auxiliary soldiers.
The clerks were so quick at writing that their hands cramped up when they registered and delivered materials.
This is war.
Chapter completed!