"My lord, Mr. Zhe has sent people to collect food again."
"Didn't you give it to him two days ago?"
"It's said that we've finished eating, but my husband didn't distribute enough food."
"Give him another five hundred stones."
"Please ask the Prime Minister to issue the official seal."
"..."
The reason why the soldiers stationed at Xiegu Pass wanted to escape, apart from the repeated defeats on the front line and the numerous prisoners in front of them, the most important reason was that there was not enough food to eat!
Countless military rations were transported to the front line, and all of them were already at a discount to Ju Ming.
This place in the planting division is just the starting point for transporting grain.
It was more than enough to supply the soldiers guarding the gate, but Zhe Keqiu suddenly brought back 20,000 remnant soldiers. They had been reducing meals in the past few days, and the soldiers of the Western Army with a little experience could guess that the food was definitely not enough.
Insufficient food and grass meant that the army was about to be defeated, so everyone was quietly packing their luggage.
The planters had already sent people to urge for grain. Gao Qiu could not conjure it out of thin air, so he could only send people to the Shaanxi Shipping Department to ask for grain.
More than 17,000 people from the Zhe family army returned safely, and 500 shi of food was only enough to last for two or three days. This was based on the premise of reducing meals, and normal meals would be gone in one day.
According to the official records of the Northern Song Dynasty, the average daily food consumption of each soldier was 2.7 liters, which converted to about four or five kilograms. No matter how much was copied in the process, at least the data is reliable. When fighting in the absence of oil and water, a strong man would eat
Four pounds of grain is normal.
Seeing that the prisoners were about to build the plank road, the Zhejia army suddenly began to fight for food.
On the one hand, it's really noisy. Cutting down on meals has made me hungry.
On the one hand, out of the most desperate indulgence, the trouble was very organized.
Not only was the Zhejia army struggling for food, but the Zhongjia army was also complaining.
Because there is still some food, in order to maintain the customs for a long time, the army rations are withheld and only a little is given every day.
On average, a soldier's daily food was only more than half a catty. Calculated as two meals a day, one meal was only a pitiful few meters, and there was not much oil or water to absorb.
In addition, Zhe Keqiu not only brought back soldiers, but also brought back a large number of civilians who transported food. These people also need to eat!
The plantation division invited the generals of the family to come to a meeting, mainly to discuss the issue of military rations.
At this moment, the soldiers came to report with surprise that Zhong Yansong had returned in a small boat.
The meeting ended hastily, and the planter hurriedly went to see him. After careful questioning, he found out that most of his relatives were still alive.
The master was overjoyed and asked, "Did you come to persuade the red thief to surrender?"
Zhong Yansong shook his head: "Zhu...Zhu Thief didn't embarrass him, nor did he ask me to persuade him to surrender. He only asked me to come back and report that he was safe."
"Good news!" Master Zhong was completely convinced.
That cunning red thief uses all his schemes to make you understand his intentions, but you have no way to resolve them.
The reason why Zhong Yansong was released is very simple, just to weaken the will of resistance among the cultivators. Moreover, it was shown that he was holding a bunch of cultivators hostage, so that the cultivators could be used as traps.
Zhong Yansong whispered: "The red thieves only want to pass through Xiegu Pass. Once they pass, they will release all the generals."
The cultivator sighed: "How can we let him pass?"
Zhong Yansong stopped talking. This is how the children of the Zhong family have been taught since childhood. They are not loyal to any emperor, but to the court of the Song Dynasty.
At this time, there was a noise from behind, and it was probably that soldiers were raising food again.
The planting masters knew that Zhe Keqiu was up to something. It was normal for the army to have trouble with food, but it was nonsense to make trouble every day. It would have been impossible without the general's connivance.
"It's not good, it's not good!"
"The soldiers of the Zhe family army who were fighting for food opened the north city gate and ran away!"
The middle division was preparing to lead troops to suppress the attack, when suddenly the most valuable soldiers came running: "The soldiers ran away due to lack of food, and my husband led people to pursue them. My husband said, please be sure to hold Xiegu Pass," he said. It only takes a few days to catch all the deserters."
There is nothing left to say among the teachers. The reason why the Zhe family army abandoned the pass and fled is really too fresh and refined.
He could only impeach him afterwards, but Zhe Keqiu could also impeach him, saying that he withheld food and grass, which caused the Zhe family's army to flee due to food shortages.
After the war, they were just blaming each other.
The Zhejia Army, which numbered more than 17,000 people, opened the gate and fled north. Although it was in chaos on the surface, the grassroots military units were not in chaos. All the soldiers were running with their heads down, and each one of them was carrying luggage.
After two or three miles out of the pass, the terrain suddenly became clear.
One or two hundred Zhejia soldiers gathered into a group and ran towards the north in a fan shape.
Zhe Keqiu pretended to pursue him with his own soldiers, and fled north from the west of Xi County in a hurry, and some even passed directly outside the city.
Liu Qi, who led troops stationed in Xi County, was shocked. He thought Xieguguan Pass had been lost, so he quickly ordered the city to be strictly guarded and at the same time sent people to Xieguguan Pass to inquire about the situation.
Before Tan Ma approached the entrance of the Xie Valley, he saw countless soldiers of various families escaping.
The Zhong divisions were no longer able to suppress them. Whether it was the Zhe family army or the Zhong family army, there was only one reason for escaping early: the prisoners were about to build a plank road. When tens of thousands of prisoners came back in a swarm, the rebel army would inevitably follow. If we escape at that time, You will definitely not be able to take your belongings with you, and you may even die in a daze.
Of course, the Western Army could defend Xiegu Pass and not let the prisoners in even if they cried.
But we don’t have enough food and grass. If we persist for another month at most, we will run out of food!
Running away when food is out of food and running away when food is not running out are two completely different concepts.
Tan Ma did not dare to go any further, so he hurried back to Xi County and said to Liu Qi: "The Zhong family's army has also fled, and Xiegu Pass has been lost!"
Liu Qi was not so frightened that he led his troops back to Fengxiang. He only sent people there to report the news to Gao Qiu. He decided to defend Xi County first and buy time for Gao Qiu to set up a defense line.
Half a day later, the Zhong division led a group of remnant soldiers and rushed to Xi County to call the door outside the city.
Liu Qi hoisted the seed master in with a basket and asked, "Why was Xieguguan Pass suddenly lost?"
Zhongshi deliberately concealed the story of the prisoners, and did not mention what Zhe Keqiu had done, but blamed everything on military rations: "There is not much food and grass in Xiegu Pass, and the soldiers and civilians who escaped from the front consume countless amounts every day. Continuously Meals were reduced for many days, and the soldiers started a food mutiny, which was really difficult to suppress."
Liu Qi suddenly realized that it was because of food, this thing was so common.
Over the years, the imperial court has dispatched many archers (rural soldiers) from Shaanxi to Hehuang to guard the border. Because they did not have enough to eat, the archers fled every now and then. The escape rate of the soldiers in each fortress exceeded 50%.
Liu Qi asked again: "How many bandits have come?"
How could any of the cultivators know this? He didn't even see the shadow of the bandits, so he made a random guess: "It is estimated that there are twenty to thirty thousand people. If the bandits hide their strength, it may be forty or fifty thousand."
It was said that he didn't say anything, and Liu Qi was quite speechless.
Zhong Shizhong said: "Yixian County must be defended, otherwise Baoji and Ucui will be lost, and the Western Army on Chencang Road and Tangluo Road will be cut off from their retreat."
The urban area of Baoji in the Northern Song Dynasty was called Baoji, and the Chencang District of Baoji City was called Guo County.
Zhu Ming led his troops to fight out of Xiegu, and if he captured Xi County, he could take a boat to the east to attack Yuxi, a boat to the west to attack Baoji, and a northwest to attack Fengxiang Fucheng where Gao Qiu was.
Even if Liu Qi only has 3,000 soldiers in his hands, he still has to risk his life to defend Xi County!
Zhong Shizhong suggested: "Lieutenant Gao doesn't have many troops. Instead of dividing his troops to defend Fengxiang and Yi County, it is better to move the commander's residence to Yi County and gather all the troops to defend here."
Liu Qi muttered: "Although what you say is reasonable, I'm afraid that Captain Gao won't come."
Gao Qiu was shocked when he learned about the military situation ahead and quickly sent troops to rescue Xi County.
But he did not dare to come to Yi County himself, so he just asked the troops to come.
Once Xi County fell, Gao Qiu immediately fled and even asked his followers to pack their belongings.
While Liu Qi was guarding Yixian County, loads of fine goods were transported from Fengxiang to Chang'an.
In addition to Gao Qiu's embezzled military salary and the money gained by the military supervisor Li Xun, they all knew that they could not stop the rebels. They just asked the front line to hold back for a few more days so that the money could be transported away smoothly.
Two days later, tens of thousands of prisoners were released and rushed back to their hometowns in groups.
They did not stop when passing through Xi County, and even looted villages along the way, because with three measures of food per person, they could not escape back home.
Liu Qi and Zhong Shizhong led troops to intercept, and at least hundreds of people were stopped, and they were all taken to a separate camp near Xi County. They were afraid that spies would be mixed in, so they did not dare to bring them into the city.
Another day later, Zhu Ming came slowly with his army.
The attack on Xi County is fake, but the surprise attack on Chencang Road and the Guancheng on Tangluo Road are real. Two thousand elites have been sent to attack the east and west Guancheng. The main attack on Xi County is purely a diversion.
At this moment, Liu Xi had brought troops to help, and eight thousand Western troops were stationed in Xi County.
The iron heavy artillery could not be brought, but some squatting tiger cannons were brought. Ju Ming ordered to cut down trees to make flat cannons.
During the period of making siege equipment, Ju Ming sent people to call for formation every day. Among the soldiers, Liu Xi and Liu Qi were unable to defend.
A few days later, Gong Bin, who led his troops to a surprise attack on Dashan Pass, fled back in embarrassment with his remaining troops. Covered in blood, he knelt in front of Ju Ming and said, "My surprise attack failed. The officers and soldiers were prepared for it. They deliberately pretended not to be prepared, waiting for me to lead the troops."
We only broke out from the ambush when we arrived outside the pass. I was surrounded from front to back, with two thousand soldiers, and despite fighting desperately, I only brought back more than 600."
"Get up, it's not your fault." Zhu Ming sighed.
Gong Bin is an old man who followed Ju Ming to destroy Heifeng Village. Because of the difficulty in life, his family simply took refuge in Daming Village.
The troops he brought to make a surprise attack on Dashan Pass were all elite rebels. Two thousand soldiers were ambushed and surrounded. It was enough to be able to return more than 600 soldiers.
"The man stationed at Dashan Pass is a good general. He actually guessed that I was going to send people to attack and seize the pass." After Ju Ming decided to negotiate for peace, he forcibly asked the court for the unknown general.
This was the biggest loss since Ju Ming raised his army, because all the dead were elites.
Great Sanguan.
Guard general Yao Fan said with lingering fear: "Thankfully Jin Qing was alert, otherwise Dashan Pass would have been lost, and none of my brother's 20,000-strong army would have been able to come back."
Wu Jie replied: "The general commanded it properly."
Yao Fan smiled and said: "When this battle is over, I will repay you personally."
Wu Jie said: "I'm afraid it's hard to reward meritorious service. This time it must be a huge defeat for the army. Those bandits and soldiers were so brave. They were ambushed and could form a formation to fight. They broke out with hundreds of people. If there were ten thousand bandits, they would be like that."
They are elite and are not afraid of facing the Western Army in a head-on battle."
Yao Fan said: "Since it is a surprise attack, it is natural to send elite soldiers here. I don't think there are many such elite soldiers among the bandits."
Yao Gu had almost completed the construction of the plank road, and he was extremely agitated by the torment.
After receiving Gao Qiu's military order, he immediately returned to the army at full speed. There were not many injuries to his troops and horses, only some were shot to death while building the plank road.
After all, Yao Gu spent the whole time working on infrastructure construction on Chencang Road.
