The invasion of one hundred thousand Japanese troops along the coast has already caused a great uproar throughout Longxia.
The people in the Jiangnan area, those with good means and connections at home, are already preparing to cross the river and head north.
Like the vast majority of ordinary people who have no ability, they have no choice but to wait quietly for the development of the matter. Now that the Japanese have occupied Suzhou and have a base, no one knows where this matter will eventually develop.
In Yingtian City, the whole city is now on alert, and all the sergeants are guarding the city tower. They don't know when the Japanese people gathered in Suzhou City will attack. Facing an enemy force that is five times more numerous, they dare not slack off at all.
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As for Qi Zeguang, he still wears his armor and is parading on the street with his lieutenants and Wang Qiang.
Nowadays, Yingtian City is almost in chaos. The streets and alleys are full of refugees from Suzhou City. There are women curled up on the ground, holding babies and breastfeeding, and there are also old people who have struggled to get here.
Qi Zeguang stood on the street and looked around. Everyone had a look of resentment and sorrow on his face, which was very sad to see.
"In the past two days, more than two hundred people have froze to death."
Hearing what the deputy general said, Qi Zeguang frowned even more. If Li Conghou hadn't been as timid as a bastard and led the remaining Jiangnan Army to Suzhou City for rescue in time, how could so many things have happened now?
After being silent for a long time, he said: "Gather some people and build some shelters for these people."
The deputy general bowed his hands: "Yes, but...many refugees did not bring much food, and many have died of hunger in the past few days. General, can you bring out more military rations?"
The lieutenant asked very carefully. During his time in the city, he had seen too many tragedies. He saw with his own eyes a half-grown child starved to death and then eaten to death by a group of hungry people who panicked.
Even though he is a soldier who has seen life and death, he can't help but feel sad when he sees all the tragedies happening now.
But looking at Qi Zeguang's expression, he was still looking sad before, but when the discussion came about opening the warehouse to put grain, he refused outright.
"Everything can be touched, but these military rations must not be touched."
"General, look at them..."
The deputy general wanted to persuade him again, but Qi Zeguang waved his hand and immediately rejected him. He stood there for a moment, and now he had no choice but to leave with a sigh of relief.
For Qi Zeguang, everything can be touched now, but the military rations must not be touched.
Not only did the deputy general find it unreasonable, but even Wang Qiang, who had been following Qi Zeguang, felt a little confused, so he asked: "The general can mobilize the army to do things, how come..."
Wang Qiang only said half of what he said, but Qi Zeguang never failed to understand the meaning. He just said slowly: "Do you think the people or the army are more important?"
"This...the army comes from the people and should be important to the people."
Qi Zeguang shook his head: "Since the army is important, if the food is distributed to the people, when the Japanese army comes, it will be miserable if the soldiers are not full and unable to fight. No matter what, we must first ensure the food supply of the army."
.”
After that, Qi Zeguang ignored Wang Qiang and walked towards his house alone. This battle must not be careless. There were hundreds of thousands of Japanese pirates in Suzhou City watching eagerly, and there were too few people under his command.
Therefore, Qi Zeguang had to fight a protracted battle to defend the city, and food and other things must not be touched.
With food shortages, these people may still have a chance to survive. If the army loses its combat effectiveness and fails to defend the city, there will be nothing left.
When Wang Qiang heard this, he suddenly nodded. Even though there was a tragic scene of cannibalism, at least these people still had a choice. If the city was destroyed, these people would have no choice but to die.
"You have been busy with us all day, go and rest."
Wang Qiang smiled bitterly: "Now that life and death are imminent, how can I sleep? I'll go to Chengguan for a walk."
After Wang Qiang left, Qi Zeguang turned around and looked at the victims again, then walked toward his courtyard alone.
This battle came so suddenly. In the past few days since arriving in Yingtian, I haven't even set foot in the door of the house, which is ridiculous.
But I don’t know how long it will take for Chen Mu to come. It affects the direction of the entire Jiangnan war situation and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people along the way. This is the first time for him to carry such a heavy burden, and he just feels that it is too heavy.
If possible, he really wanted to be like Li Conghou and run away alone with his family, because he was also afraid of death and afraid that everything he loved would be far away from him.
After all, I have lost the passion I had when I was young, and now I just feel like living a humble existence is the best.
The ginkgo tree outside the house began to sprout new buds again. As soon as Qi Zeguang entered the door, his half-year-old child ran out, holding a wooden sword in his hand and waving it constantly.
"Dad is back!"
The child screamed happily when he saw Qi Zeguang, and then ran towards Qi Zeguang. When he got close, he hugged him with one hand.
Qi Zeguang lovingly wiped the sweat from the child's forehead. Even though his eyes were full of love, he still couldn't help scolding him: "You bastard, why are you playing so crazy all day? Where is your mother? You don't care?"
A smile appeared on his innocent little face, and then the child waved the wooden sword in his hand and shouted: "My mother said that the Japanese pirates are here to bully us again. I want to practice martial arts and go with my father to fight against the Japanese pirates and beat them up."
We have a lot of money on our hands, let’s see if they dare to come again.”
"You... you brat, aren't you afraid of death?"
"My mother said that a man must protect his family and his country, huh! I'm not afraid of death!"
"You kid..."
Qi Zeguang was speechless for a moment. Thinking back to what he had just thought, the fear in his heart made him blush. A child knew how to defend his family and country in bloody battles, but as the leader of an army...
At this time, the kitchen door in the courtyard was suddenly closed with a bang, and Han Meier's beautiful figure walked out leisurely.
"You two gentlemen, stop talking and come over for dinner."
No matter how panicked people are in Yingtian City now, his wife's expression is always so calm.
At the dinner table, Qi Zeguang still couldn't help but talk about the withdrawal from Yingtian City.
"Daughter-in-law, tonight...I'll ask someone to send you and your wife out of the city. The war is raging now..."
Before Qi Zeguang could finish his words, Han Meier took a sip of porridge, wiped her mouth and said, "I'm not leaving."
Qi Zeguang was overwhelmed by what was going on. Even though he was usually obedient to Han Mei, he couldn't help but explode now.
He slapped the table and said in a deep voice: "This matter is not up to you, take the child back to Yizhou."
Han Meier was stunned, looked at Qi Zeguang for a long time, and just asked: "Are you afraid of those Japanese pirates?"
Qi Zeguang really didn't expect that Han Mei'er would suddenly ask this question. After a moment of silence, he could only hang his head and said helplessly: "One hundred thousand people, that's too many. Let the children escape. I'm afraid I can't keep it..."
"So what if it's a hundred thousand? It's just a group of Japanese pirates. My man is not a coward, he is a lifelong general. I always believe that my man can guard this city and protect me and my children. I will just sit here and quietly
Waiting for your return, waiting for the day of your triumph."