The sun hid behind the clouds, only half of its face showing.
The fields surrounded by ditches are golden.
On the bumpy post road, there are endless carts and carts. The soldiers took off their armor, abandoned their swords and guns, picked up their sickles, and bent down to harvest corn and wheat.
The grains are not very full and there are many weeds in the fields, which is the result of neglect.
The war's devastation to agriculture was very obvious, and it caused huge damage to people's lives.
No, even the people harvesting grain ran away. The soldiers had no choice but to go to the fields themselves, cut down the corn and bundle it up, and then drove it away in carts.
After the wheat straw is chopped into pieces, the war horses will not be able to smell it, but it can be used to feed draft animals.
After the corn and wheat are threshed and dried, they can be made into fragrant corn rice and steamed cakes to replenish military supplies.
The sergeants moved very quickly, even taking away the mung beans and vegetables planted on the field ridges, leaving not a single hair behind.
Every move they made was naturally seen by the defenders on top of the city. If you asked them how they felt, they would naturally be extremely anxious.
After the situation was reported, a meeting with a gloomy atmosphere was immediately held in Yanzhou City.
This was a high-level military and political meeting. Most of the attendees were Yanzhou's senior military generals and bureaucrats. The matter discussed was the issue of food and grass.
It's June, and the thieves' blockade still can't be broken. And the wheat fields outside the city have already reached the summer harvest season, but you can only watch. Isn't it uncomfortable?
Moreover, there was already a shortage of food and grass in the city. If the shogunate hadn't ordered grain shops to be raided and rich households and ordinary people to store food in their homes, Yanzhou would have been out of food. But even so, after a long siege, Yanzhou was at the end of its rope and could no longer survive.
We have to find a way to solve it!
"The war has been going on for years, the people are in chaos, and the Xia people are short of military food. In the past few days, they have mobilized troops and horses to harvest the wheat fields." Xin Wan, the judge of the shogunate, said: "Commander, waiting like this is not an option. There is quite a shortage of food and grass in the city.
It’s just enough for the rest of the month, if we don’t think of a way out, we’ll all starve to death.”
Zhu Jin's brows jumped after hearing this but he said nothing. But looking at his expression, it was obvious that he was very worried.
"Now there are two strategies. One is to leave the city with the entire army and fight the Xia people. If they win, all the problems will be solved. The other is to break the blockade and find ways to obtain food outside the city to support the army." Yamen general Hu Gui said.
He only mentioned two ways to solve the problem, but did not say which one was better.
Of course, everyone is not a child, and everyone has their own thoughts.
Everyone knows that the decisive battle is unreasonable.
There are still more than 10,000 soldiers in Yanzhou City, but their combat effectiveness is very problematic because they are filled with too many new soldiers. Besides, the Xia people may not be willing to fight you decisively. Isn't it better to hold on to the camp and be trapped to death?
Then there is only the second way left, which is to go out of the city to grab food.
Grain grabbing is also very dangerous, because you need to at least go out of the city, grab some of the grain and transport it back to the city before the enemy can react.
This takes time. Even if you move quickly and the enemy does not have time to mobilize all his troops to fight you, there is a high possibility of sending more than 10,000 local troops to fight with you.
But now there is an upside.
The Xia people deployed a large number of troops to grab grain, which could be used for surveillance. The number of troops besieging Yanzhou was greatly reduced, which seemed to greatly improve the feasibility of going out of the city to grab grain.
"Bang!" Zhu Jin's iron palm hit the table, attracting everyone's attention.
"I have made up my mind!" Zhu Jin stood up suddenly and said.
Everyone held their breath and looked at Marshal Zhu.
"Go out of the city at midnight tonight to collect grain and grass. You can calculate the specific route of action now and let me know." After saying that, Zhu Jin asked someone to bring the horse to him, stroked it gently, and said nothing.
"As ordered." The atmosphere has been heightened to this point, and everyone has nothing to say, so they can only do as they are told.
If they don't leave the city, will they all starve to death in more than a month? Since Zhu Shuai is willing to give it a try, let him.
Yan Bao and Kang Huaiying quietly looked at each other and understood the meaning in each other's eyes.
You are acting like a fool, and the commander still refuses to give up. You have made it difficult for us.
After the matter was settled, Duyu Housi immediately began to formulate a plan. After all, he was a skilled war machine, and he also knew the local people's conditions very well. How many troops would cover, how many masters would snatch food, how many people would participate in transportation, and how many people would be needed in the reserve team?
Details of the operation, including who would be in charge, were all quickly worked out by Du Yuhousi's staff.
The Yamen general Hu Gui and his wife went out to cut wheat, and Zhu Jin led five thousand soldiers to cover him. The eldest son Zhu Yongzhong led more than a thousand elite soldiers from Yanzidu to rush to the rescue. The second son Zhu Yongzhen stayed behind in Yanzhou, assisted by generals Yan Bao and Kang Huaiying.
After everything was settled, the army left the city at midnight, stepped onto the trench that had been filled in long ago, and headed east.
The actions of more than 10,000 people could not be hidden from the Xia army who was monitoring outside the city. However, they were only monitoring and did not take any action that night. It was not until dawn that they mobilized 5,000 people and pursued them all the way.
As a result, they were naturally defeated by Zhu Jin who led the team in person. The operation went smoothly, which made Zhu Jin breathe a huge sigh of relief.
After Zhu Jin went out to grab food, the city of Yanzhou was calm at first, but this was only temporary.
Just one day later, early on the fifth day of June, large-scale military mobilization began in the city.
Yan Bao led thousands of people and forcibly took over the city gates. Kang Huaiying mobilized his sergeants and surrounded the Jiedu envoy's mansion.
Zhu Yongzhen was very drunk last night. He suddenly heard the news of the mutiny after dawn. He was so frightened that he woke up and immediately went out to persuade.
The sergeants looked ashamed, but they still rushed into the house and detained everyone.
"Are you all crazy?" Zhu Yongzhen regretted a little. It was not that he regretted not discovering the undercurrent surging in the city in time, but regretting that he did not get involved in time and betrayed his father for glory. But it was already too late. The sergeant rebelled, and now he is being
object of suppression.
"What can you get after surrendering the city?"
"Be a soldier for Shao Shude? Does he want you? With so many soldiers, he can hardly pay for them."
"The one who besieged Yanzhou was Xuanwu. Ziqing surrendered, but what happened? They were tossed in the ravines, suffering heavy casualties. Even their pensions were lower than others, or even non-existent."
"Shao Shude is going to send you to fight in the hot places of the south. Can you bear it? Each one of you fell ill before you saw the enemy."
"You are all crazy!"
Zhu Yongzhen shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping that the warriors would change their minds.
Indeed, many people looked hesitant, but after thinking about it, they still pulled Zhu Yongzhen aside and tied her up.
They have already turned against each other, is there any use in regretting it now? Marshal Zhu will not eat them all alive?
"Second Yameni, stop shouting." Kang Huaiying sighed and said, "We have no intention of killing you. King Xia Rende, he didn't even kill all the Zhu Quanzhong clan, so he won't do anything to you. Let's rest.
Come on, don't bother. If you do this, Zhu Shuai will not let us go. There is no turning back and no one will save you."
Zhu Yongzhen still cursed endlessly, but her voice was much softer.
He thought about it carefully and found out that Shao Shude was indeed a man who did not kill people very much. He also had a reputation for being very trustworthy and generous and benevolent. Even his enemies recognized him. Apart from his love of playing with other people's wives and daughters, he had no stain whatsoever.
Kang Huaiying saw that he was more honest and left.
In fact, there were not many sergeants involved in the rebellion, less than 2,000 in total. There were still 3,000 sergeants in the city, hundreds of guardsmen, and strong men who had gone to the city in turn to fight. They all had weapons in their hands, but none of them came forward.
Stop it, but watch it all indifferently.
Having been consumed by the cruel war for so long, they are no longer as angry as they were back then. To put it more bluntly, they have accepted reality and are ready to compromise with it.
Kang Huaiying was very emotional after seeing it.
Before the mutiny was launched, there were all kinds of worries and darings, fearing that if it failed, everyone would be killed. But once it was implemented, it was so devastating and easy that people couldn't believe it.
Is this still the Taining army that vowed not to surrender?
"Creak!" The north gate of Yanzhou slowly opened, and the sergeants lowered the suspension bridge again, and under the leadership of Yan Bao, went out to form the formation.
Less than half an hour later, the sound of neat footsteps sounded.
Two thousand Xia soldiers entered the city along the street, put away the weapons of the defenders, and ordered them to return to the barracks and wait for orders.
There was no resistance from anyone, and all the sergeants were like zombies. They would do whatever you asked them to do without saying a word. The atmosphere was extremely dull.
The common people were hiding in their homes, looking out through the cracks in their doors, and feeling uneasy as they listened to the continuous calls of orders with Qingzhou accents on the streets.
During the long siege of the city, they had caused considerable casualties to the Xia soldiers outside the city. Will they take revenge?
Liu Wei entered the city riding a tall horse rewarded by the King of Xia.
Wang Yanwen, the deputy envoy of the Longwu Army, followed him, his face slightly unnatural.
Military chaos, so familiar!
This is an intractable knot between him and his immediate boss, Liu Wei. Although Liu Wei once generously expressed to him that he did not hate him, and the two of them reconciled on the surface, have they really crossed that threshold in their hearts?
"Report the victory to Commander Hu and Deputy Commander Ge." Liu Wei reined in his horse and said.
"Yes." The messenger got on his horse and took the order and left.
Liu Wei took one more look at the dilapidated city and was filled with emotion.
The three towns of Yun, Yan and Qi, counting from the top, are all one "mother". Starting from the first month of last year, within a year and a half, the three towns were destroyed one after another, and now only Haizhou, which is still in the hands of Yang Xingmi, is left.
As for the thousands of soldiers from Zhu Jin's tribe who went out to grab food, failure was inevitable under the encirclement and suppression by the army.
The victory did not bring any joy to Liu Wei. On the contrary, it gave Liu Wei a sense of sadness.
There will be countless wars ahead, and we don’t know how many people will die. The fate of the more than 10,000 soldiers of the Longwu Army is like the green leaves in the wind, fluttering in the wind, making people unable to feel a sense of being grounded.
It's as if they were born without attention and destined to be consumed to death.
Longxiang, Longwu, Longhu, hold the sun, hold the saint, divine victory, and win a wide victory over tens of thousands of soldiers of the seven armies. They are exhausted, morale is low, they can't see the future, and they have no sense of security.