The area east of the Jiao Lai River, later known as the Little Jiaodong Peninsula, is a hilly area that is not suitable for large armies, especially cavalry. Fortunately, although the Jinzhou Army has wolf cavalry, they are mostly infantry. If they fight the enemy, they will not be able to fight.
Unexpectedly, they only relied on the wolf cavalry method to control the battlefield. Moreover, the number of wolf cavalry was small, so they were not afraid of being restricted by the terrain. The Jinzhou Army drove more than a thousand rebels from Pingdu East City, passing through Cui Zhao and Beidatian, and arrived at Wujiazhuang in the evening.
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Peng Dachui's reconnaissance cavalry had dispersed long ago, but they were not prepared for the cavalry attack, and there was no reason to be prepared for the cavalry. Then Kong Youde, did Li Jiucheng have any cavalry under his command?
The main purpose of the reconnaissance cavalry is actually to detect whether there are rebel strongholds on the eastward route and whether there are villages and towns that have not been poisoned by the rebels, so that the Jinzhou Army can obtain some food and grass supplies from these villages and towns. Unfortunately, what we saw along the way
Just like the villages and towns we saw when we crossed the Jiaolai River before, there were no people in sight and ruins everywhere. There was no hope of getting food supplies during the march.
When they set up camp at Wujiazhuang, the reconnaissance cavalry found dozens of old and weak women and children in the village. Seeing the arrival of soldiers and horses, these women and children were not like the mountain people in Changyi Prefecture who stayed away.
Instead, he stood there without fear and looked towards the Jinzhou army.
This surprised Shi Dayong and a group of generals. No matter where they went before, even under the rule of the imperial court, the common people would stay far away when they saw the army and horses approaching, and did not dare to approach at all. The behavior of the common people in front of them made them call them Dayong.
They were very surprised.[
After arriving at Zhuangzi, Dayong led a group of personal guards and went forward to inspect, wondering why these people were not afraid of soldiers. After taking a closer look, he realized how these old, weak, women and children were not afraid of soldiers? Instead, they had been attacked by soldiers.
They were completely stunned, or rather numb, which could be seen from their empty eyes.
None of the dozens of old, weak, women and children were fully clothed. Some were wearing tattered cotton-padded clothes that were so torn that they could no longer be called cotton-padded clothes. There was not even a piece of cotton wool visible. Half of them didn't even have a pair of trousers, and they didn't know where to find them.
What is "touching" is the rag wrapped around the body.
The dozen or so women inside are not very young anymore. Due to years of hard work, their faces do not have a good-looking complexion. They are all sallow and thin, and even their breasts are shriveled.
At a glance, you can tell that they are hungry because they have been without food for a long time.
Seeing the general approaching, the women and children subconsciously leaned closer, but they surrounded seven or eight children who were equally skinny with only bones left. There were boys and girls, and the older ones were about seven.
Eight years old, the younger one is about three or four years old. There are two other children who are just one year old. They are tightly held in their arms. It is not known whether they are asleep or too hungry to have any strength, and they are motionless.
Military disasters are especially natural disasters. The weather in Denglai has been good in recent years. It is not like the northwest that suffers disasters every year. Although the people live in poverty, they can always fill their stomachs. During the holidays, they can also buy things with loose money.
Order some fish and meat. Even if you encounter a disaster, you can save your life even if you live in a tight diet and suffer through the day. No one will use a knife or a gun to snatch the last bite of food from them. But if you encounter a military disaster, it is the worst in the world.
What a tragedy.
The miserable situation of these old, weak, women and children in front of us is obvious at a glance. It is obvious that they have suffered from military disasters. When the rebel soldiers come, they will burn, kill, loot and do no evil. The men will either be killed or kidnapped, or become part of the rabble.
A member of the army, or a follower of the army and civilians, most likely either became cannon fodder or died of exhaustion in a foreign land, becoming an unknown skeleton in another land.
Men are like this, and women's situation is even worse. Younger women have almost become tools for the rebels to vent their anger. The more beautiful ones can be given a bite of food and kept in the camp to serve as prostitutes for the army.
"The worse ones are raped and then killed. I don't know how many women in this Denglai land have been killed by the rebels. I don't know how many children who have lost their parents can never grow up. I don't know how many children."
Crying babies have become ghosts on both sides of the road.
Dayong sighed deeply, his eyes swept over the faces of the women and children one by one, and finally fell on the children who were obviously shaking. His heart suddenly felt cramped. He clearly saw the hands of those children.
I was holding some grass dumplings, some of which were half-bitten.
What a sin! This is all the sin of Kong Youde!
The heartbroken Dayong stepped forward gently and said to the women and children in a very harmonious voice: "You don't have to be afraid. We are officers and soldiers who have come to quell the rebellion under the emperor's order. We will not harm you."
After listening to his words, no one among the women and children moved, and no one had the courage to speak to Dayong. They just stared blankly at the group of officers and soldiers in front of them who didn't know where they came from, even the children.
Standing there motionless.
Seeing this, Dayong turned around and told Guo Yidao: "Give them some food."
Guo Yi hesitated, hesitated, and reminded in a low voice: "General, we don't have much food anymore. We can only survive for one more day. What will our brothers do if we give it to them?"
"Just follow orders, what the hell." Dayong glanced at Guo Yi with some displeasure.
Guo Yi had no choice but to nod to the guards on one side. The two guards hurried to the back and fetched a bag of flour cakes from the oncoming supplies camp.
Seeing that what he had brought were noodles, Guo Yi was startled, but he did not dare to say so. He signaled his guards to come forward and distribute the noodles to the women and children.
When Dayong saw that what he had brought were noodles, he did not react like Guo Yi did. He knew that these noodles were already the best food in the army, and the portions were not large. Guo Yi was right.
The total amount of food can only survive tomorrow. If we can't get supplies tomorrow, we can only use those prisoners to tide over the difficulties. Dayong is not prepared to kill any of the horses, he even does
So I'm mentally prepared to feed human flesh to horses.
Without war horses, there would be no wolf cavalry. Without the wolf cavalry army, Dayong would not have much confidence in taking Dengzhou. Even if there were only two or three hundred heavy cavalry, Dayong was convinced that he could deal a heavy blow to the rebels at the critical moment, and even
The enemy was defeated in one sneak attack. The two battalions on the left and right of the infantry and the infantry battalion were too short to form an army. Although the Jinzhou veteran army was the backbone, it took less than a month to integrate into the army. Without the wolf cavalry to rely on, it was difficult for the infantry to compete with the rebel brigade alone.
of.
Since his transfer, Dayong has been quite envious of the cavalry under Zu Dabi and Wu Sangui. That is a total of three thousand cavalry! I don’t know where the strength of this ancestral family comes from. Zu Dashou and the main force of the Liao army are no longer in Dalinghe.
, they were able to gather a full three thousand cavalry! If they had known that their ancestral family still had such strength, I am afraid that Dayong would have planned to seize it after the battle of Jinzhou! How could their ancestral family be allowed to make a comeback and become Gao Qiqian's subordinates?
What a powerful team to suppress yourself![
There is no regret medicine in the world, not to mention that the time God gave Dayong was very short. After the battle of Jinzhou, he led his army south to offer prisoners before he could rest. Before the rewards came, the emperor issued an edict asking them to go south urgently. What happened next
The situation is out of control and cannot be reversed by Dayong alone. What he can do now is to win Dengzhou as soon as possible to clear his name, otherwise, he may not even be able to return to Liaodong.
The whole army must rely on wolf cavalry. How dare Dayong kill horses for food? Even the draft horses pulling the cart cannot be killed. If he kills them, who will pull the boxes of gold and silver and the ordnance captured along the way for him?
I had no choice but to do something that was outrageous to both humans and gods!
The only thing that makes people feel at ease is that all those prisoners can be killed, but they are not serving the common people.
"This is what our general kindly gave to you. Come on, take it all, one piece for each of you."
The two guards were probably really pitiful for these women and children, so they did not bring them black and hard-to-eat nests, but a small amount of flour cakes, which they distributed carefully, but
The women and children seemed to be afraid of them and did not dare to reach out to pick it up. Although their eyes had already become a little brighter, they still hesitated and did not dare to come forward to take it. It seemed that as long as they stretched out their hands, the official
The army's sword would cut off their hands mercilessly.
Seeing that the women and children were too afraid to take it, Dayong had no choice but to raise his voice and said to them: "I told you, we are officers and soldiers, not the rebels. You can just take these pancakes. Don't think about yourself.
You also have to think about the children behind you. If the adults are hungry, they may be hungry. It looks like you are afraid that it will be too hard to stand. Why bother to hold on? I am not a bad person. You can just take these pancakes to satisfy your hunger temporarily. I will
Since I am here, I am here on behalf of the Emperor, and I will not let you go hungry again. You will follow me from now on. No matter how hungry my subordinates are, I will never let you suffer again!"
After hearing Dayong's words, the women and children looked at each other and then bravely stepped forward to take the noodles from the hands of the guards. The women who got the noodles first did not stuff them into their mouths.
Instead, he turned around and handed it to the children behind him. The children grabbed the noodles and stuffed them into their mouths, devouring them hungrily, and several of them choked.
"Quick, give them the water bags!"
Seeing that the children were choking, Dayong hurriedly ordered his guards to hand over the water bottles. After drinking a few sips of water, the children swallowed the noodles and then swallowed them in large gulps.
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"
"The imperial court finally came to save us, the imperial court finally came to save us, woo hoo!"
Although the bread is not big, it is definitely much better than the wild grass dumplings these "women" and children eat on daily basis. With food in their bellies, the "women" and children also have the strength to speak, and they can't help but be grateful to Dayong, saying
As he spoke, there was a cry of pain. In an instant, there was a burst of crying, and the grievances, panic and fear that had been felt for a long time were vented in an instant. The adults cried while holding the children, and the children cried while holding the adults. The crying made all the guards feel a little uncomfortable.
The crying attracted a group of generals from behind, including Jiang Wanli, Song Qing and others, who came one after another. They felt very uncomfortable seeing these women and children struggling on the verge of death.
Dayong stayed for a moment, feeling that his eyes were a little wet, and it was inconvenient to show it in front of his subordinates, so he turned around and walked towards a broken wall. After standing still, he stared blankly at the Zhuangzi that had been destroyed by the war.
After a while, Jiang Wanli and Song Qing also came over. Song Qing knew from Guo Yi that the general wanted to take care of these women and children, so he couldn't help but come over to remind him. He said anxiously: "General, we don't have any food in the camp.
Okay, how can we save these people? Besides, we have to go to Dengzhou, how can these people follow us? If we save one, there will be a group behind us. Now there are dozens of women and children. If there are more people later,
What should I do if there are too many women and children?”
After hearing Song Qing's worries, Dayong gave a bitter smile and said: "I can't bear to save them one by one. I can't bear to leave them here. When I meet the common people again, I'll take them all with me. Well, just carry them with me."
Let’s set out together. It’s not a big deal if we fall behind. Once Dengzhou is captured, the imperial court will send people to resettle them.”
After hearing this arrangement, Song Qing sighed, knowing that the general had made up his mind and could not persuade him. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head and asked, "Then let's feed them, shall we?"
Eat it? Dayong was stunned, closed his eyes and sighed softly: "If we eat it, they will eat it, right?" After a pause, he opened his eyes, his cheeks twitched, and his face was full of sickly red.
"Color", "Just hide it from them so that they don't know about it."
Jiang Wanli shook his head and said: "We can eat, but how can the common people eat? Besides, we still have children."
Dayong was silent for a long time, and then he said to Jiang and Song: "Do you want them to starve to death, or do you want them to live? This is a chaotic situation, if we don't save them, they won't survive! In this world, it's too
Just hoping to survive can be considered a white lie."
After saying that, he broke down the wall and walked a few steps. Suddenly he turned around and told Guo Yi who was following him: "You should leave a little of the pasta in the camp specifically for the children. We adults have done evil things, but they have done it."