Grain is very heavy. Considering that there are 40,000 people in Shen Yi City, the most basic consumption is 40,000 kilograms of grain every day, which is about 2,670 shi.
In other words, even if Shen Yi's cavalry came back with only one day's rations, they would still need about 40,000 kilograms of grain. It would also take a lot of effort to transport this grain back to Xuzhou.
Therefore, Tu Yuan was certain that the Huai'an army would not be able to return in a short time.
But not long after he finished speaking, he saw the sky in the northwest turning vaguely orange in the distance.
Tu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and his eyelids couldn't help but jump.
He took a deep breath, and before he could speak, he saw a messenger running all the way over. He knelt down in front of him with a plop, lowered his head and said in a trembling voice: "General, Zhangzhuang has been lost! The southerners set fire to Zhangzhuang. , Zhangzhuang has 40,000 shi to store grain..."
"They were all burned!"
"Burning food..."
General Tu sat on his horse and was silent for a while, then raised his head and looked towards Xuzhou City.
At this time, he was still some distance away from Xuzhou City and could not see clearly who or what was on the tower of Xuzhou City.
But he didn't know if it was an illusion, but he vaguely seemed to see a young man looking at him from the tower.
And he, the commander-in-chief of the Great Qi Border Army, could no longer understand that young man very well.
"Shen Qi...isn't there a shortage of food?"
After having such a question in his mind, Tu Yuan glanced around, and then said in a deep voice: "Send an order from my general to have each battalion move faster and seal the retreat route of the Southerners as soon as possible so that their cavalry cannot Return to Xuzhou!"
It has to be said that Tu Yuan's judgment on the battlefield is still very accurate. So far, almost all the choices he has made are accurate.
It's a pity that everything is a step too late.
Because before his general order was passed down, Ling Su led five thousand cavalry to a place more than ten miles outside Xuzhou City, and was running towards Xuzhou City at high speed.
At this time, General Ling's whole body was full of "fireworks", but he was carrying a bag on his back. In the bag were arrows. At a glance, there were probably hundreds of them.
The cavalry behind him all had their quivers filled. In addition to the quivers, some of them had arrows in their arms or pinned to their waists. Almost everyone carried hundreds of arrows. Arrow comes back.
At this time, a large number of Qi troops had already arrived at Ximen, and there was an increasing trend. They were surrounded by Qi troops on their only way back to Xuzhou.
Fortunately, these Qi troops only numbered about a thousand people, not too many.
Ling Su ran at the front. After taking a look at the battlefield, he looked back at the soldiers behind him. His heart skipped a beat and he shouted: "Send my order to the general, abandon the chariot and mount the horse! Abandon the chariot and mount the horse!"
"Crush through the front line of defense!"
At this time, they were carrying about a dozen carts behind them, all pulled by packhorses.
In another ten miles or so, these trucks loaded with supplies can enter Xuzhou City.
But unfortunately, the situation no longer allows it.
These large vehicles have become a drag.
Following Ling Su's order, everyone got on their horses and followed behind him. Some of the Huai'an Army cavalry who were walking at the front took off strips of cloth from their waists and tied them to the eyes of the horses to prevent them from encountering torches.
Frightened after being exposed to knives and guns.
After everyone was ready, Ling Su gave an order and five thousand cavalry rushed towards Xuzhou City!
The momentum is huge!
There are over a hundred people, which is already overwhelming, let alone thousands of cavalry. The current encirclement circle of the Qi people is not thick enough. The defense line of more than a thousand people was rushed by thousands of cavalry and immediately collapsed. Ling Su and others
People rushed in.
At this moment, there are still some infantry outside Xuzhou City, fighting with the Qi people to buy time for the cavalry to enter the city.
Ling Su was riding on a big horse, holding a long sword, and bent down to kill a Qi man. At the same time, he turned sideways to avoid the oncoming arrows!
However, the arrow came too fast, and he still did not completely avoid it. The arrow hit his shoulder, and it was inserted into the gap in the shoulder armor, and the arrowhead penetrated into his flesh.
Ling Su groaned in pain and patted the horse's butt.
At this moment, he was only about ten feet away from the city gate. He entered Xuzhou City with a few ups and downs under the galloping hooves of his horse.
After Ling Su entered the city, he turned around and issued his general order: "Everyone, start retreating into the city!"
The Huai'an army outside the city led the cavalry into the city, followed closely by the infantry. They fought and retreated back to Xuzhou City.
Ling Su, on the other hand, put all the arrows carried on the horse into a cloth bag. He climbed to the west gate tower and saw a familiar figure watching the battle on the tower. Ling Su ran over and half-knelt down.
On the ground, he lowered his head and said: "Mr. Shen, this general is greedy for merit. Please punish me, Mr. Shen!"
Shen Yi looked back at him, stretched out his hand to help him up, and said with a smile: "What do you mean by General Ling's words?"
Ling Su stood up, lowered his head slightly, and gritted his teeth and said: "If you only bring arrows, and each of the brothers takes a little, they will be back half an hour ago. The general saw that Zhangzhuang had a lot of luggage, so he greedily let some go.
People transported more than a dozen carts, which delayed the return trip..."
"Almost surrounded by Qi people!"
"If I follow the hour and a half you said, Mr. Shen, there will be no problem."
Shen Yi glanced at the Huai'an army that was still retreating below the city, shook his head, and said, "I took a look and found that there were almost a hundred cavalry left behind. It's still acceptable. General Ling doesn't have to blame himself."
As he said that, he looked at the arrow stuck in Ling Su's shoulder, frowned and said, "General Ling is injured, why don't you go and treat him?"
Ling Su took off the cloth bag on his back from his back. There was a quiver in the bag, as well as dozens of scattered arrows. He squatted on the ground and counted them, and then whispered: "Mr. Shen, the last general will bring
Ninety-two arrows came back."
Having said this, he held the arrow on his left shoulder with his right hand, gritted his teeth, pulled out the arrow with a strong force, and threw it on the cloth bag in front of him.
Because of the pain, he took several breaths to recover, and his forehead was already covered with sweat.
"Ninety-three."
Ling Su lowered his head and said: "Brothers, some bring more, some bring less, but they should all be about the same as the last general."
If each of the five thousand cavalrymen brought back ninety arrows, that would be hundreds of thousands of arrows.
This number of arrows is actually not very conspicuous in a war involving hundreds of thousands of arrows between the two countries, nor is it very useful.
After all, there are so many arrows in Zhangzhuang.
Zhangzhuang was just one of the many supply camps of the Qi people, and it was not a very large one.
It can be seen that this number is actually not too much.
But for the current Xuzhou City, it is obviously enough.
At the very least, Xuzhou City can survive for a long time.
Shen Yi looked at Ling Su, whose shoulder was bleeding profusely. After frowning, he looked around and said, "Come here, help General Ling go down and bandage the wound."
The soldiers on the left and right immediately stepped forward to support Ling Su.
Ling Su's face was pale, but he still looked up at Shen Yi and gritted his teeth and said: "Mr. Shen, I just want to do more for the Huai'an army like General Xue..."
Hearing this, Shen Yi frowned subconsciously.
He shook his head and said: "Xue Wei did not do more than General Ling. On the contrary, he did not do as much as General Ling."
"General Ling, don't think too much, go down and recuperate."
Ling Su lowered his head and went down to bandage the wound.
After he left, Shen Yi silently turned back and glanced at the city.
The Huai'an troops under the city are still retreating one after another, but they are basically near the city gate, and their safe retreat is a foregone conclusion.
While Shen Yi was watching the battlefield, on the other side of the battlefield, General Tu was also watching the battlefield.
He rode to the place where Ling Su and others discarded supplies, and took a look at the contents of the dozen or so carts.
Most of them were arrows, but a few carts were equipped with armor, and two carts were filled with cured bacon.
There is no food in Dudu.
The further away the picture is, the uglier the face becomes.
The Huai'an army wants to bring these things into the city, which means that the Huai'an army in the city is short of arrows, meat, and even armor, but it is not short of food!
In other words, his judgment on the battlefield was wrong from the beginning.
"It's been months!"
"Shen Qi!"
General Tu clenched his fists fiercely and gritted his teeth: "Where did you get so much food?"
When General Tu was angry, General Zhou Shizhong also arrived here on horseback. After roughly understanding the situation on the battlefield, he silently dismounted and walked behind Tu Yuan. He lowered his head slightly and said, "General, Zhang Zhuang is under attack." They were burned and a large amount of supplies were robbed. If this matter is reported to the court, you and I are both guilty."
Tu Yuan turned around, looked at Zhou Shizhong, and said in a low voice: "At this time, where can the emperor pay attention to the Huaihe River?"
Zhou Shizhong said in a low voice: "At this time, the emperor naturally does not pay attention, but after the new master ascends the throne in the future, he may not care about the affairs of the Huaihe River. At that time, for the majesty of the new dynasty, both of you and I will inevitably gain something." crime."
Tu Yuan took a deep breath, looked back at Zhou Shizhong, and said in a low voice: "Brother Zhou, I know what you are thinking."
"But this kind of thing can easily harm the Yi tribe."
"I need to think about it carefully..."
Zhou Shizhong said with an expressionless face: "Back then, the Eight Great Families followed the royal family and entered the country to attack Chen. It was also an act of rebellion. They also wanted to kill the Yi tribe."
