It was before five o'clock and the night was still very deep. Surrounded by a group of subordinates, Bari Zuren hurried to the northwest of the city, where tens of thousands of elderly people lived together.
In front of a courtyard, hundreds of soldiers surrounded the courtyard. There was a raging fire burning in the courtyard. There were more than fifty old people living in this small courtyard. An old man died of illness two days ago and was dragged and buried as a normal death.
Already.
But in just two days, more than fifty elderly people in the entire courtyard all suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and more than ten people died. This attracted attention. After checking the condition, several experienced Dangxiang doctors agreed that this courtyard
A plague broke out here.
The government was afraid of causing panic, so the news was blocked. All the elderly people who survived were moved to isolation, and their belongings were burned.
Bari Zuren looked at the fire in the yard and asked an official: "Are there any other findings?"
The official's explanation: "I am dissatisfied with the general manager. Recently, many people have diarrhea, including low-level officials."
"What?"
Bali Zuren was so frightened that he took two steps back and looked at the officials in horror, "You are not infected too, are you?"
"Probably not. People who contract the epidemic will suffer from vomiting and diarrhea. I only have diarrhea and no vomiting."
As soon as he finished speaking, two half-dead old men were carried out, and a foul smell hit their nostrils. The officials could no longer bear it and ran to the corner and vomited violently.
There was a flash of fear in Balizuren's eyes, and he quickly ordered his surroundings: "Take him to isolation as well!"
The official was so frightened that he shouted, "Manager, my humble position is not infected, it just smelled bad."
The officials shouted in vain, and the soldiers forcibly dragged him away.
Bari Zuren looked at the sky, which was already slightly green. He immediately ordered: "Go to the Marshal's Mansion!"
The Marshal's Mansion is Brother Richard's mansion. It is the only mansion in the city that covers an area of more than five acres. It is also the palace of the Prince of Xia. Xixia has been removed from the imperial title by the Jin Kingdom. The prince is a hostage in Shangjing.
He was named King of Xia and took charge of Fuzhou.
The lights in the palace were brightly lit at this time, and Brother Richard had already gotten up. The reason was of course not because of the epidemic, but because of the military situation.
The night deputy general Shang Dongyan discovered the emergency situation. The Song army was gathering and might launch an attack on the city. He immediately informed the commander-in-chief Xia Houliang. Xia Houliang did not dare to neglect and came to report to Brother Richard overnight.
"I haven't seen any large siege weapons on the other side. At most they are siege ladders and the like. Don't worry about that. Our army can withstand it."
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid that the opponent's fire attack will be very sharp, so we have to take countermeasures."
Brother Richard took a sip of hot tea and said calmly: "I asked you to prepare a large number of blankets and quilts before, just to deal with the Song army's fire attack. The blankets were soaked with water, and they were spread out as soon as the fire started. The fire burned very quickly.
It was destroyed. Wan Yanchang said that they had tested it many times and it was very effective, so we can just copy it."
Xia Houliang bowed and said: "I understand the humble position!"
Brother Richard added: "I have fought with the Song Army no less than a hundred times. I know the combat characteristics of the Song Army. They rely heavily on siege weapons. Without large-scale siege weapons, they will never attack the city desperately. This was the case with the Western Army in the past.
Chen Qing is also from the Western Army, and his army will inherit this characteristic, so I tell the brothers to be vigilant, but not too panicked."
"I humbly obey orders!"
Xia Houliang bowed, turned around and hurried away. He happened to meet Bali Zuren in front of the stone steps, and the two almost bumped into each other.
Bali Zuren was so worried that he didn't bother to say hello to Xia Houliang and went straight into the lobby.
"Your Majesty, I have something urgent to report!"
Brother Richard waved his hand, "I'm a little tired and want to take a rest. I'll talk about anything tomorrow."
After saying that, Brother Richard turned around and left. Bari Zuren shouted anxiously: "Your Majesty, a plague has broken out in the city!"
"What?"
Brother Richard stopped and looked back at Bari Zuren in shock, "What did you just say?"
"Your Majesty, there is a plague in the northwest corner of the city. The situation is very bad."
Plagues occurred many times in the history of Xixia, causing serious consequences. Xixia rulers attached great importance to plagues, and Brother Richard was no exception.
He immediately asked anxiously: "Why did the plague appear? What is the situation now?"
Bali Zuren was speechless. How could a plague occur? With people and livestock living together so densely, it would be strange not to have a plague, but he couldn't say this.
"The specific cause is still under investigation. At present, only one courtyard has been found to have an outbreak of plague. Those who should be buried, those who should be burned, and those who should be isolated have also been isolated. But it is night now. How many people are really infected with the plague will not be revealed until dawn.
Know."
"Where?"
"In the northwest corner, around Daxian Lane."
Brother Richard frowned, "Are there more elderly people over there?"
"Exactly, many elderly people over fifty are arranged there."
Brother Richard pondered for a moment and said: "Seal the entire northwest corner, no one is allowed in, and no one is allowed to come out."
Bari Zuren was shocked, "Your Majesty, there are more than 10,000 people living there!"
Brother Richard said impatiently: "I'm not saying to ignore them, block them first and prevent them from infecting the army, and then treat them. Let the uninfected ones go outside, and the infected ones stay inside. The key is not to let the infected patients
It affects the whole city.”
Bari Zuren nodded, as long as he was allowed to release people, he quickly said: "I will control the humble position, but the humble position needs the assistance of the army."
"I will give you two thousand troops, and then I will give you all the barracks and seal them tightly for me!"
Paper could not contain the fire. At dawn, the news of the plague in the northwest of the county spread throughout the city. The entire Fugu County panicked. Many people living in the northwest corner wanted to flee, but they found that the camp fence was along the street.
The northwest corner was sealed off, which made people panic even more. Almost everyone who lived in the northwest corner ran out, mostly old people, and cried and shouted outside the camp fence. Two thousand soldiers were guarding it and no one was allowed to cross.
Yingzha escaped.
However, cases of vomiting and diarrhea occurred all over the city, but most people did not dare to say anything for fear of being driven into the northwest corner to die. In the eyes of the people in the city, the northwest corner was almost like the underworld.
At this time, tens of thousands of soldiers on the city were in full formation, and two Song Army crossbow formations appeared outside the city, one in the northeast corner and one in the southeast corner.
Brother Richard is right. The Song Army did rely heavily on heavy siege weapons such as large trebuchets. Without large siege weapons, the Song Army would not be able to attack the city.
But the fact that the Song Army did not attack the city directly does not mean that the Song Army would not launch an offensive.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The war drums beat fiercely, and 150 steps away, 20,000 crossbowmen stepped forward in turn and launched an intensive crossbow battle at the city head.
Rows of dense crossbow arrows were fired at the top of the city. The Song soldiers fired at high angles, causing the arrows to almost fall from the top of their heads.
The party soldiers on the top of the city raised their shields one after another to resist the rain of crossbow bolts, or crouched close to the city wall. There was a blind spot where they could escape the crossbow attack. Despite this, the party soldiers and the people in the city still suffered heavy casualties.
, within a few rounds of firing, nearly two thousand people were killed by the crossbow arrows.
This was the Song Army's attempt to create a war atmosphere, which not only targeted the morale of the defenders in the city, but also conducted actual combat training for the Song Army soldiers.
The bow and arrow battle took turns outside the cities in the southeast, northwest, and lasted for four days. On the morning of the fourth day, Brother Richard finally went to the city.
At the top of the southern city, Brother Richard watched coldly as tens of thousands of Song troops launched a bow and arrow battle into the city. A vicious plan formed in his mind. If a disease broke out within the Song army, wouldn't they collapse without a fight?
If the Song army brought the plague to Xixia again, causing a plague to break out in the Xixia hometown, and killing all those damn Han slaves, maybe one day they would be able to return to their homeland.
The more Brother Richard thought about it, the more he realized that this plan was brilliant. He had made up his mind, so he turned around and said to Xia Houliang: "Find hundreds of brothers, be careful, go and replace the corpses of those who died of the epidemic with armor, and add a few more arrows."
, throw it down the city and let the Song army collect the body!"
"Wait a minute!"
Brother Richard stopped Xia Houliang again. It may not be possible to achieve his goal with corpses alone. It would be better to use corpses plus living people.
Brother Richard thought for a moment and then said: "After dark, expel all the people in the northwest corner from the city and let the Song army take care of them."
Xia Houliang advised: "Your Majesty, many parents of soldiers are among them. Expelling them will probably seriously affect the morale of the army."
Brother Richard said coldly: "Then expel those who are sick from the city. If any soldiers ask, tell them that there is no cure in the city. I can't bear to see them die and ask the Song Army to treat them."
