"Commander, the Wu Ni people have dragged back all the dead horses, and we can't grab any of them!"
In the military tent, Ma La was blushing and smoldering. The two assistant leaders on the side were also dejected: a dead horse was not brought back, and twenty or thirty soldiers were lost. It is really too damn embarrassing.
The nest is on fire.【】
Lang Tan, Sabusu and others were also shocked when they heard this. Whether they could hold out until reinforcements from Ninggu Pagoda came, they all relied on those dead horses to satisfy their hunger. But now they were snatched away by Wu Ni, which cost more than 10,000 soldiers.
What should we do with the young soldiers and thousands of civilians?
"You didn't get even one?"
Peng Chun was stunned for several minutes, and then he waved his hands to Ma La and the others: "Go down, kill all the remaining horses in the camp, and let the soldiers fill their stomachs first."
"There are less than a hundred war horses left in the camp. Even if we kill them all, we can only last two or three days. What will happen next?" the assistant leader behind Ma La said worriedly.
"What to do next?"
Peng Chun murmured to himself, but did not say anything. He just waved his hand to signal Ma La and others to go out. Seeing this, Ma La and others had no choice but to leave the commander's camp.
On the tenth day of the fifth lunar month, there were still hundreds of war horses left in the Qing army's slaughtering camp to satisfy their hunger, but they ran out of food after less than three days. All the camp's supplies were consumed, and any more grains could satisfy their hunger. In the next few days, the sound of hunger spread, and the Qing soldiers responded with
They ate grass roots and tree barks, and dug out the ground under the camp to collect field mice, earthworms and other things to wrap their bellies. At this time, it was difficult to take care of the living people. Hundreds of wounded soldiers had food to eat, and there was a lack of medical treatment and medicine. After struggling for several days,
, all of them expired. The bodies were randomly discarded in a forest on the east side of the Zuojun camp and were buried with all their strength.
…………
"Commander, the Tatars have been hungry for several days. I'm afraid they don't even have the strength to stand now. If we attack them now, we and I will have no power to fight back."
"No rush, just wait for two more days."
Zhao Qiang shook his head, because when he arrived at the left camp of the Qing army, smoke from cooking stoves that he had not seen for several days appeared in the air. After thinking about it for a while, he knew what he was doing, and sneered and ordered a group of generals: "All ministries should be on guard, and we must not take it lightly!"
All the generals responded in unison: "Yes, Commander!"
"Master city guard, why is the Qing military camp so quiet?" At the top of Yaksa City, Herschov and other Russian officers looked at the strange Qing military camp in surprise, their eyes full of confusion and confusion. They didn't understand.
I understand why the people of the Qing Dynasty suddenly became so quiet. Even the usual military exercises were stopped. There were not even many soldiers walking around in the huge military camp.
Tolbuzin looked far away and seemed to have some realization: "The people of the Qing Dynasty seem to be in some kind of predicament."
Herschov looked at Tolbuzin in confusion: "Dilemma?"
Tolbuzin said with some certainty: "Maybe they don't care about us now, and the most worrying thing is their own survival."
Another military officer interrupted and asked, "Why did the city guard say that?"
"Didn't you see those Qing people digging for rats to eat?" Tolbuzin clasped his hands together and said confidently: "They have run out of food!"
Hearing what the city guard said, Herschof finally understood why the Qing people were so quiet, and said happily: "So, the troops in Tuguli Mountain are our reinforcements?"
"Maybe, maybe not." Tolbuzin smiled and shrugged: "Whether they are our reinforcements or not, what we have to do now is to see how these Qing troops starve to death before our eyes. Everyone, you will appreciate this life
You will never see a tragic scene, you will witness tens of thousands of Qing soldiers starving to skin and bones, and then falling to the ground pitifully."
………
Hunger caused Ma La, who originally weighed 1,670 kilograms, to lose 20 to 30 kilograms. The originally plump vestibule was now sharp and sharp. He had tried his best to provide for his Ningguta soldiers and the troops transferred from the three provinces to the north.
They collected food, but now even the mice and earthworms in the fields had been stripped away, so there was nowhere to eat. The hateful Guan Ning army surrounded the army tightly, and it was impossible to escape into the dense forest.
For a day or two, Ma La was still convinced that reinforcements would definitely arrive, but now ten days have passed, but there is not even a shadow of reinforcements, and there is not even a piece of wood on the empty Heilongjiang River.
Ma La's confidence gradually disappeared, and he began to doubt, and along with doubt came despair. After the once again disappointed commander-in-chief came out, he trudged around the left military camp as if he had lost his soul. The people in the military camp
The patrol has long been withdrawn, because the soldiers no longer have the strength to patrol back and forth every day. They are now huddled in tents, miserably waiting for death to come.
Alas! Are you so naive that you don’t bless me, the Qing Dynasty? Do you really want all my Northern Expedition Army to be wiped out here?
The dead silence made Ma La's nose sore. He felt like crying, but his eyes could not shed any tears. He was tired, tired, and finally he couldn't walk anymore. The soldiers followed closely behind him.
They wanted to help him, but their feet were as if they were made of iron and couldn't move forward. They could only helplessly move the leader's legs, half-kneeling next to a tent, breathing heavily.
"Sir, let's go inside and rest for a while."
The soldiers came over with difficulty, helped the horse up, lifted the tent door, and prepared to help the commander in. However, when they looked inside, they were all shocked. They saw a dozen soldiers cutting a tree.
The meat of the dead body was then roasted on the fire and eaten. In the corner of the barracks, seven or eight human heads were thrown there.
Ma La was so frightened that the veins on his forehead protruded from his anger. He wanted to curse, he wanted to roar, but his throat seemed to be blocked by something and he couldn't speak. After a while, under the frightened eyes of the corpse soldiers,
, he ran forward in despair, but what he saw was another group of soldiers eating human flesh. Looking at the dead bodies on the ground that had been shaved down to thin bones, Ma La was trembling all over, and his stomach, which was already empty, suddenly felt uneasy.
He had a reaction and started vomiting heavily, but all he vomited out was acidic water without any dirt.
After vomiting like this for a long time, Ma La felt that he couldn't vomit anything more. Then he pointed at the soldiers who were chewing the flesh of dead people and said forcefully: "How can I, a noble warrior of the Eight Banners, be able to vomit like this?"
Corpses for food! Tell me, tell me, where did these corpses come from?" As soon as he finished speaking, his face suddenly changed. He didn't need the soldiers to tell him, because there were two obviously dying corpses when he arrived.
The rotten corpse was wearing a conspicuous Eight Banners uniform!
Why? Why is this happening! Oh my God, what a sin!
At that moment, Ma La felt like the world was spinning and he could no longer stand. He fell to his knees with a "plop" and howled lowly.
Those Qing soldiers who ate the corpses of their companions were also in tears. They didn't want to do this! But otherwise they would have to starve to death!
Seeing that the commander was so heartbroken, a soldier was sad and angry, and said in a low voice: "Sir, you are no small beasts. It is really impossible to live without eating human flesh. Don't go forward, sir."
Yes, every battalion is like this now."
""
After hearing what the soldier said, there was no sound from the horse's horn for a while. Looking at them with fear and fear in their eyes, they struggled to stand up and asked in a deep voice: "Who told you to do this?" Before he finished speaking, someone heard something behind him.
There was an angry voice saying "It's me!"
Ma La turned around, only to see Burcha, who had not shown his face in the past few days, walking towards him with a dozen or so sergeants. Burcha and the sergeants did not look like they were starving at all. Their faces were as red as if they had just been there.
The delicacies are above average.
These beasts! A fire of fame arose in Ma La's heart, and he couldn't bear it anymore. He swung his fist and was about to hit Burcha, but before the fist came close to him, Burcha blocked it with his light hands.
He came down and then moved forward effortlessly. Suddenly, Ma La fell heavily backward.
"It's better to keep your useful body for the court and be loyal to the emperor!"
Burcha, who did not have an angry look on his face, walked up to the hesitating Mala soldiers and made a gesture. Immediately, the Qing soldiers who were roasting human flesh carefully brought over a few pieces of cooked human flesh.
"Eat it if you want to live!" Burcha flashed a fierce look, grabbed a piece of human meat that seemed to be a calf, bit it in one bite, chewed it back and forth in his mouth, and then pushed the piece of meat to the hands of the Mara soldiers in front of him.
After filling it up, he shouted: "Eat it for me!"
Although the soldier was scared, he didn't know why he didn't feel sick when he saw the roasted human legs. He was a little scared and stared at his commander, who was staring blankly at him, and then at Burca, who was looking at him fiercely, flashing through his mind.
After several thoughts, he finally grabbed the man and backed away. Ignoring the smell of the hot noodles, he opened his mouth wide and took a bite, then wolfed it down.
When the remaining Ma La soldiers saw it, their eyes were all red, and they were waiting to starve to death if they didn't eat! They frantically fought for the human flesh, and after grabbing it, they rushed to the side and squatted there, gnawing greedily.
.
"Alas!" Seeing his own soldiers like this, Ma La lost all his anger and just stared at them blankly.
"Eat it if you don't want to die. Let me tell you, this meat is very popular now. I don't have many hands left. Busai from the forward camp grabbed more than me!" Burca snorted coldly and took a hand.
He threw it in front of Mara, and then led his people forward without looking back.
"Burca, you beast!"
Looking at the human hand on the ground, Ma La was heartbroken and stared blankly. Suddenly, his throat swallowed involuntarily, and the five fingers of his right hand moved slightly.
Burca is right, I have to save my life and serve the emperor faithfully! It's not worth starving to death like this!
Ma La's right hand grabbed the human hand like lightning, then quickly put it under his nose, took a greedy breath, and after a few seconds of hesitation, he opened his mouth, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
On May 13th, several battalions of the Qing army stole the corpses of dead and wounded soldiers, and the news spread quickly throughout the army. The Qing troops who were already starving and crazy came after smelling the scent, and the corpses were cut up.