Chapter 4 National Memorial (Part 8) The valley where everyone camped was very large, but they dug out sprouted grains in half of the valley bottom. The grains dug out in each burial point were not much, only three or five kilograms, but there were thousands of them.
After calculating the burial points, at least 30,000 stones of military rations were buried here. Everyone was talking about it. They didn't know who buried the rations. If the Sui army's supply camp was intercepted, the Goguryeo people would definitely take all the rations away.
Even if they cannot be taken away in a hurry, setting them on fire or burying them together in one place will obviously save more effort than burying them scattered. Why dig so many small holes and bury the grain and grass like sowing seeds?
Liu Hongji winked at Li Jiancheng, clasped Yu Wenzhong's wrist, and dragged him into the woods. Seeing that he was far away from the soldiers of the food protection team, he pulled out his sword with a sharp sound, placed it on the opponent's neck viciously, and lowered his head.
He asked in a voice: "Tell me, what's going on? Does the army still have food and grass?"
"General Liu, General Liu, please don't, don't..." In terms of martial arts, Yu Wenzhong was not inferior to Liu Hongji at all, but when he saw the murderous look in his eyes, he couldn't resist at all, while begging for mercy and giving up.
He stammered: "There is still, at least, at least the general still has it!"
"Fart, when will the general run out of food!" Qian Jiulong, a guard of the Li Mansion, was also worried. He kicked Yu Wenzhong on his back, then stepped on the opponent's chest and cursed angrily: "Here we go.
Now you still refuse to tell the truth, believe it or not? I will kill you now, and then turn around and go back to Huaiyuan Town!"
"No, no" Yu Wenzhong waved his hands repeatedly, not knowing whether he was begging everyone not to kill him, or begging everyone not to turn around and go back west. After stammering for a long time, he finally took a breath and said: "When I was ordered to come back to ask for food, the soldiers
We have already started to kill the captains and captains. If we can still guarantee two meals a day, the brigade rate, the team uprightness and the like, we can only do one thing and one thing!"
"Grandma, since the food supply has been cut off, if your general doesn't retreat quickly, why are you waiting?" Qian Jiulong was so angry that he punched the tree, causing the pine tree as thick as a man's waist to swing back and forth.
"The nine armies are not under each other, but Liu Shilong is the only one who supervises the army. Naturally, everything is decided by Mr. Liu. Moreover, the Goguryeo people have asked for surrender, so everyone has to retreat slowly to prevent others from seeing that the army is short of food and regretting it again.
Thoughts!" Yu Wenzhong got up from the ground and explained the matter in a low voice for his master. Now, he also understood that he could not hide the truth from everyone, so he had to tell the whole story clearly like pouring beans into a bamboo tube.
It turns out that before the long-distance attack, according to the practice of fighting in the Central Plains, each soldier carried nearly three stones of rations. The soldiers were in good health, and there were pack horses in the army, so it was not a problem to carry this small amount of luggage with them. But who knew that the terrain in Liaodong was complicated and the army
We couldn't find a suitable guide, and the road we traveled was either in mountains or swamps. On such a difficult road, three stones per person was too much. (Note 1) After walking for two days, some soldiers secretly came to the place.
When camping, they dug holes in the tents and buried grain to reduce the load. Generals at all levels thought that after crossing the Mazhai River, the army could collect grain on the spot, so they acquiesced to this behavior. As a result, the grain burying operation became more and more intense.
Later, almost every soldier began to take the initiative to reduce his own burden.
After the army crossed the Mazhai River, they fought and won consecutively, so that the Goguryeo army did not dare to join the battle. At this time, the army was on the verge of losing its rations. General Yu Wenshu advocated withdrawing the army, but Liu Shiyong, the supervisor of the army, because he let go of the Goguryeo Prime Minister Eulji Mundeok
, I was afraid that my efforts would be in vain and I would be treated as a scapegoat when I returned, so I firmly disagreed with the idea of withdrawing our troops.
The nine generals each had their own opinions, and no one could convince the other, so they had no choice but to follow Liu Shilong's arrangements, take advantage of the victory to cross the Sa River, and intimidate Pyongyang. They planned to meet up with the navy of General Laihu'er and borrow some food from the other party.
When an army of ten thousand troops came to Pyongyang City, Lai Huer was repulsed by the Goguryeo people because of his greed for power and was unable to join the army at the designated place. At this time, the Goguryeo people were still clinging to the wall and clearing the fields, burning all the crops outside the city.
Hearing this, even Li Jiancheng, a noble man who had never fought before, knew that the prospects for the Sui army were not good. He stepped forward anxiously and asked loudly: "Then what are you waiting for? Or rush into the city with anger.
Either retreat quickly and slaughter the pack horses along the way to deal with it!"
"Originally it was agreed that Goguryeo would be put to death and then live again, but at this time Goguryeo ceded territory and sued for peace. Before setting off for the expedition, His Majesty once said that once Goguryeo was willing to surrender, no more fighting would be allowed. So, the army had no choice but to accept Gao Yuan's peace treaty.
, pretending to have enough food and grass, and slowly retreated!" Yu Wenzhong smiled bitterly and shook his head. He also felt that this Eastern Expedition was just like a child playing in the mud.
"Where have you retreated? Before you come back!" Liu Hongji pulled the sheepskin map that Li Xu painstakingly drew from the hands of the soldiers, pointed at the ink lines on the east and west, and asked incoherently. At this moment, he could no longer scold anyone.
What a bastard. Just as everyone on our side expected yesterday, the 300,000-strong Eastern Expedition Army pinned all their hopes of survival on these 10,000 shi of military rations.
"Liu Jianjun sent an advance envoy to report the victory, and then General Yuwen sent a few small ones back and ran non-stop for six days. Including yesterday and today, the whole eight days had passed. According to the withdrawal speed at that time, the army should have crossed Sa by now.
The water reaches this..." Yu Wenzhong pointed his finger at an unnamed hill on the south bank of Mazhai River opposite Bopukou and whispered.
For eight days, the army had been walking for eight days without food and grass supplies, and they had to ask God to bless the Goguryeo people for their credibility and be willing to recognize the alliance under the city! Liu Hongji was so angry that his eyes turned blue, and he wanted to arrest Yu Wenzhong and choke him with rotten millet.
But this moment is obviously not the time to investigate the responsibility. If the food protection team had arrived earlier, the 300,000-strong army would have been able to return with a few more people. Besides, Yu Wenshu and others were pretending to retreat slowly. If this move can really be done,
If you deceive the Goguryeo people, maybe there is still hope for the army to survive.
Thinking of this, he quickly ordered his soldiers to notify the soldiers to cook as quickly as possible. After eating, he immediately hurried on. From the dug seedlings, some soldiers had guessed that the expeditionary force was on the verge of running out of food. Therefore, everyone understood.
With half-baked thoughts, Liu Hongji made some rice to fill his stomach, and then drove his horse over the mountains.
This area is already the source of Daliang River and Wugu River. The mountain is quite steep. Halfway there, horses constantly step on stones and break their legs. Everyone does not care about their feelings and rushes to unload the grain onto the backs of other animals, and then
Pushing the injured war horse from the foot-wide mountain road into the deep ravine, listening to the scream of the horse before it died, everyone felt hairy in their hearts, as if they were the ones being pushed down. At the same time, everyone was looking forward to it, hoping to overcome it.
From this mountain range, you can see more than 300,000 robes appearing peacefully in the distant sky. For a moment, everyone was not as scared as they were when they set out in the morning. Although their faces were livid, their movements of hands and feet did not move at all.
Everyone hurried on regardless of their lives. In the middle of the night, the large group of people finally succeeded in crossing the ridge. Although the mountains in this area were not very high, they had just descended one after another, and then started to climb another mountain ridge. Finally, they encountered a slightly gentler hill.
, through the moonlight in the first half of the night, I saw a dark camp entrenched on the road that everyone must pass.
"Here it is, our own camp! I changed my mount here when I came back!" Yu Wenzhong shouted happily, and he tried to rush up the mountain, but Liu Hongji grabbed the reins and was caught off guard.
I almost fell off my horse
"Look at the cottage, why are there no torches!" Liu Hongji reminded in a low voice with a livid face.
Yu Wenzhong was stunned, and immediately understood that something was wrong, he jumped off his horse, pulled out a pair of small horizontal knives from his waist, and tiptoed to touch them.
"Come here, hold up the torch, unfurl the Sui banner and follow me up the mountain. If someone attacks, fight back immediately!" Liu Hongji jumped off his horse and shouted an order. If the mountain stronghold is already occupied by the Goguryeo people at this time, anyone passing by in the middle of the night will shout "horse neigh"
, the other party already knew that the Sui army was approaching, and Yu Wenzhong touching it alone would have no effect at all.
Immediately some soldiers came forward and held up the banner for Liu Hongji. The one hundred veterans who were selected as the vanguard shouted loudly, holding a shield in one hand and a torch in the other. They dispersed into small groups in groups and slowly walked up the hillside.
The crush was beyond everyone's expectations. No one in the village came out to greet the friendly troops, and no one fought back. Until Yu Wenzhong's figure rushed to the entrance of the village, no one saw any movement inside.
"Come in!" Liu Hongji pulled out his sword and jumped into the camp first. The huge camp was empty. On the ground, the discarded weapons reflected the cold moonlight, making people's hearts tremble. Some people threw torches into the wood and
In the temporary shelter built with thatched grass, through the leaping firelight, I could see all kinds of feathers and arrows stuck in the doors, windows and roof.
"This place was attacked by someone, and the enemy troops have withdrawn!" Yu Wenzhong rushed in, turned half a circle, and ran back and said
"Check the entire camp first to see if there are any traces left!" Liu Hongji ordered in a low voice.
The veterans agreed and went into the camp separately for inspection. After about half a stick of incense, several team leaders came back to report one after another. They all said that the camp had become an empty camp. Not only were there no soldiers stationed there, not even a body was found.
"First arrange for everyone to enter the camp. Be careful not to drink the well water here. Later, we will send people to search around to see if there are any mountain springs nearby!" Although Liu Hongji was suspicious, he still ordered everyone to enter the camp to repair if any enemy troops appeared.
Nearby, the food protection team must regain their strength first. Otherwise, not only will the food and grass not be transported to the front line, but their own side will also be in danger of being wiped out.
Although this abandoned camp was a bit crude, it was still better than sleeping in the valley and marching for a whole day. The soldiers were already exhausted. After hearing the general's order, they immediately entered the camp one by one and fell to the sound of snoring Liu Hongji and Li Jiancheng.
, Li Xu and other major generals were also exhausted and weak, but they did not dare to sleep. After arranging the manpower on duty and sending out veterans to explore nearby movements, everyone gathered in a relatively secluded house and whispered.
Let’s discuss plans for tomorrow
"Depending on the situation, the Goguryeo people have already started to fight back!" Qian Jiulong was the first to stand up and brought up a topic that everyone was unwilling to face but had to face.
"If the Goguryeo people near this stronghold start to fight back, I'm afraid the Pobi stronghold may not be able to be saved!" Li Jiancheng glanced at Yu Wenzhong, whose eyes were blood red, and said in a very low voice
When surrounded, it would be difficult for 1,500 soldiers to hold on behind the wooden wall for two days. Since the Goguryeo people had made up their mind to trap the expeditionary force to death, they had to follow this conclusion in Bobi Village. Even if the grain transport team rushed over, they would definitely not be able to deliver the grain to Yu Wenshu.
Whether to continue to advance or to decisively retreat, the answer is obvious, but no one is willing to say it first. No matter who first proposes the word "retreat", the lives of 300,000 troops will be sacrificed by his own hands. Even if this little military ration is safe, Sent to the Mazhai waterfront, I'm afraid the Eastern Expeditionary Army wouldn't have a chance to eat even a single grain of rice.
Before everyone could come to a conclusion, Yu Wenzhong knelt down on the ground with a thump. Without saying a word, he kept kowtowing to everyone with "dong, dong, dong." The ground in the barracks was very hard. After just a few times, he kowtowed. Seeing this, Liu Hongji and Li Jiancheng couldn't say anything about withdrawing their troops to the west. They stretched out their hands to help Yu Wenzhong stand up, but the opponent's knees seemed to have taken root, growing firmly on the ground.
The two sides were arguing and were in a stalemate. Suddenly, the wooden door of the room was kicked open with a "ping" sound. Li Liang, the brigade leader, rushed in. He didn't know whether it was because of surprise or anger. He ignored the military salute and pointed to the window with a pale face. , his lips trembled up and down, and it took him a while to tremble and spit out a few words.
"People, people, heads, go quickly!" After saying that, he opened his mouth, and tears, snot, and the dry food he had eaten in the afternoon rolled down at the same time.
Seeing Li Liang being so shocked, everyone knew that something big must have happened outside. They took his hand and walked quickly to the yard. He spat out a mouthful of dinner. Li Liang wiped the stains on his face, finally took a breath, and cried and cursed: " Behind the mountain, by the river behind the mountain, those damn Goguryeo bastards, they are not human, they are not human!"
"Don't cry, what happened to the military? Take me to see it!" Liu Hongji shouted to stop Li Liang from crying.
The latter was reminded and suddenly remembered that this was in a military camp, and most of them were new recruits who had never seen blood. He gritted his teeth to stop his screams, took Liu Hongji's wrist, and pulled it outward at the critical moment. No one cared about it. I scolded him for being rude, followed him, and stumbled down the hillside. I first heard the sound of water flowing from a distance, and then smelled a pungent stench.
"Raise the fire!" Liu Hongji knew something was wrong, stood still and ordered loudly
Several guards of the Li Mansion who were following them stretched their torches forward at the same time. Through the jumping firelight, everyone saw a huge pagoda, covered with flies and maggots from the base to the top of the pagoda. At first sight of the fire, the flies were frightened. Rising like dark clouds, the material of the pagoda itself was instantly revealed.
They were human heads. Hundreds of human heads piled together. Each head had a pair of wide eyes.
Note 1: In the Tang Dynasty system, one stone was worth two buckets. Today's weight is about 24 pounds. In the Sui Dynasty, the government army system was implemented. Each group must prepare a total of 6 horses (or donkeys) for transportation, which is the so-called "six pack horses". Each person carries three stones of grain, and seventy-two pounds is not too heavy for marching in plain areas.