The desolate autumn wind blew in the field, and the black plume of smoke from the burning corpses rose into the sky, and the stench of the corpses spread everywhere.

After the war, Jiangning was caged in a gray dead air.

The lights and gongs and drums in the city could not hide the mournful color in the fields outside the city. Not so long ago, millions of troops clashed and dispersed here, many people died in the roar of artillery and fighting, and the surviving soldiers came from all directions.

Some of the generals led the soldiers under their command to surrender to the new monarch of the Wu Dynasty again.

Some generals or leaders take their brothers from the same place around them to go to relatively wealthy but remote places.

Some soldiers had long since lost their courage in this battle, and after losing their establishment, they dragged their hungry and exhausted bodies and walked alone on the long way home.

The dispersion of the crowd is more like a symbol of troubled times, and in a few days, the scattered deserters spread across the hundreds of miles of roads and mountains outside the city of Jiangning.

In the process of being captive by the Jurchens, the soldiers had long been out of living materials, and after a bloody battle in Jiangning, the fleeing soldiers could not trust the Wu Dynasty, but also feared the Jurchens.

Obsessed people fell on the road, starving soldiers with great skills hid and hunted their fellow tribes among the hills, and some groups of soldiers who wanted to leave the war zone quickly began to devour the surrounding skirmishers. I don't know how many tragic and heinous things have happened in the middle.

Most of the soldiers who defected to the new monarch were not properly settled for a while. After besieging the city for several months, the autumn harvest was also missed, and the food in Jiangning City was about to bottom out, Jun Wu and Yue Fei and others came out with the will to mourn the destruction of the boat, in fact, it was a desperate counterattack, and at this time, the joy of victory had not completely fallen into the bottom of my heart, and new problems had been smashed head-on.

The number of soldiers of the Yuan Wu Dynasty, who exceeded 400,000 and was even increasing, turned against this side, and the first thing they asked for was a large amount of grain, grass, military funds, and medicines, but in a short period of time, it was impossible for the Junwu side to even gather the residence of so many people.

After 11 years and nine months of fierce battles in Jianshuo, corpses piled up outside Jiangning City, and the epidemic was actually spreading, and in the camp where the crowd had gathered before, the Jurchens even slaughtered the entire wounded barracks several times, and then set fire to all of them. After the previous battle, and even the collection and burning of corpses in the following days was a problem, the reserves in Jiangning City for epidemic prevention - such as lime and other materials - quickly bottomed out within two or three days after the end of the war.

These are still small things. At the level of truly harsh reality, the biggest problem was also the army of Wanyan Zongfu who fled to Taiping Prefecture after being defeated.

Although in the mutiny and counterattack of millions of people, the Jurchen army, which was attacked head-on by the two armies of Zhenhai and Beiwei, suffered heavy losses and fled in disarray, but Wanyan Zongfu did not die, and the core of the Jurchen army was not crushed. Once Zong Fu, Zong Bi and others regroup and kill, and no longer treat the Wu Dynasty with an inhumane high-pressure policy, Jiangning City, which is bitten again, I am afraid that they will forever lose the opportunity to break through with millions of people.

Even the hundreds of thousands of troops who surrendered to Cheng will become a serious burden on the Junwu side - it is difficult for this group of soldiers to generate any combat power in a short period of time, and even it is an adventure to even include them in Jiangning City, these people have been starving outside the city for two months, and they are not Jiangning natives, once they enter the city and starve, I am afraid that it will not be long before they will have to fight in the city again, and sell the city for a bite to eat.

The black smoke continued, the sun rose and the moon set, hundreds of thousands of people worked on the remnants of the battlefield, old tents and shacks were built again, and the white scarf on Jun Wu's forehead was tied to enter and leave the city, and there was a short rest for several days, and the officials at all levels under his command were even more busy.

Immediately after the victory of the Great War, envoys who lobbied to various parts of the Wu Dynasty had been sent out, and then there were various treatments, pacification, co-optation, and distribution...... For the people in the city, it is necessary to encourage and even celebrate, and for the outside of the city, the daily expenses for porridge, rice, and medicine are all flowing accounts.

Three days after the victory in this battle, the staff members who had already begun to look to the future summarized their various opinions, and Jun Wu's eyes were red and bloodshot. On the evening of September 11, Shen Ruxin went to the city tower to deliver food to Jun Wu, and saw him standing in the red sunset and looking silently from afar.

Shen Ruxin stepped forward to ask for peace, Jun Wu was silent for a long time before he reacted. The internal official moved the table on the city tower, Shen Ruxin put on a simple meal, Junwu sat in the sun, looking at the dishes and chopsticks in his hand and a few small dishes on the table in a daze, his eyes became more and more blood-red, and he gritted his teeth and couldn't speak.

There was a faint sound of celebratory gongs in the city.

Shen Ruxin said: "Your Majesty, after all, you have won the battle, and you are about to succeed the emperor and set the king, how can you ......?"

Jun Wu waved out his hand with chopsticks: "Succession succession!" How can there be an emperor like me! How can I have the face to be an emperor! ”

His reaction startled Shen Ruxin, and he quickly got up and picked up the chopsticks, and whispered, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?" "Two days before the victory, Jun Wu was happy even though he was tired, but now, he finally seemed to be crushed by something.

“…… We will abandon the city and leave. Jun Wu was silent for a long time before he put down his rice bowl and said such a sentence, he staggered to his feet, staggered to the door of the city tower room, and his tone was as calm as possible: "I don't have enough to eat." ”

“…… Defeated the Jurchens, didn't you grab it at all? Shen Ruxin asked in a low voice.

"Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, like hungry ghosts, and those who could be robbed were either divided or burned by the Jurchens...... Even if you can leave the logistics of Zongfu, it is not of much use, and the more than 400,000 people outside the city are a burden. If the Jurchens come again, we won't be able to go there. To the southwest is the Taiping Prefecture occupied by Zongfu, to the east, Zhenjiang is already in ruins, and to the south we will only run head-on into the Jurchens, and to the north across the Yangtze River, we don't even have enough boats......"

Jun Wu said: "We are three months late, the prestige of the Wu Dynasty has died, and the Jiangnan area has surrendered the most, even if there are loyal people, it is impossible for us to stay in this place for a long time." The Jurchens took advantage of the autumn harvest, and the general trend has been achieved, and General Yue and they all said, I can only escape, and I must not be besieged by the Jurchens again, otherwise no matter where I defend, I can only wait for the Jurchen trend to rise higher and higher...... I risked my life and won the battle, but I could only run. Ruxin, do you know what will happen to the people of Jiangning after I run away? ”

He walked out from the door, the high city tower lookout, can see the city wall below, but also can see the rows of houses and dwellings in Jiangning City, after a year of bloody battles the city wall has become particularly majestic in the sunset, the soldiers standing at the head of the city are old, but it seems to have an incomparably vicissitudes of life and incomparably firm atmosphere.

"I grew up in Jiangning since I was a child, and I lived in Jiangning for ten years as the prince, and I spent most of my time in Jiangning, and I desperately guarded Jiangning, and the people here regarded me as their own - some of them trusted me as if they trusted their own children, so in the past few months, no matter how difficult it was in the city, they didn't say a word of bitterness. We've gotten this far, but I'm going to ...... to succeed in their sights...... And then run away? ”

When he said this, his eyes were sad, Shen Ruxin had fully understood that she couldn't weigh these things, and such things were also a nightmare for her to choose: "Really...... Can't hold it? ”

"There is no food in the city, and you may be able to hold on for a year and a half by eating people, in the past, if Wu Qimai dies, there may be a glimmer of life, but the battle has reached this level, once Jiangning is surrounded, even if Wu Qimai dies, they will not go back easily." Jun Wu closed his eyes, "...... I can only collect as many boats as I can, send people across the Yangtze River, and run for their lives......"

He stood on this lookout for a while, and as the sun set and there was a little remnant of fire. The lights up and down the city lit up, illuminating the outline of the city, the cold light on the city wall, the antique houses in the city, the flowing water and small bridges on the Qinhuai River, those places where he had survived since he was a child, and where Ning Yi had also seen with novel eyes.

"I know...... What's right, I also know what to do......" Junwu's voice came from his throat, a little hoarse, "back then...... The teacher talked to his soldiers in Xia Village, and said, "You have fought hard once, fought a battle, and it is very difficult, but don't think that you can win in this way, you have to win ten times, win a hundred times, and go through a hundred times and a thousand times before these things will end...... On the seventh day of the new year, I thought it would be over when I let go, but I understand now, Ruxin, winning the most difficult battle, and there will be hundreds of thousands of difficulties ahead...... I figured it out......"

"But even if it makes sense," he gritted his teeth...... "...... They are also too bitter. ”

Jun Wu remembered the arrow flying outside Zhenjiang City, when he shot it into his stomach, he thought "but that's it", he thought that he would not be afraid or sad anymore, but of course this is not the case, after crossing a difficulty, he finally saw the danger in front of him a hundred times and a thousand times, this evening, I am afraid that it was the first time he left tears as an emperor.

That night, he remembered the existence of his master, summoned Wen Ren, and asked him about the progress of his search for the members of the Huaxia Army—in the previous barracks outside Jiangning City, the personnel responsible for secretly colluding and inciting were clearly aware of the activities of another force, and when the war began, a large number of unknown people participated in the rebellion against the surrendered generals and soldiers.

After the war, Jun Wu arranged someone to be responsible for liaising with the other party, he originally thought that he had succeeded to the throne at this time, many things were different from before, and the contact would inevitably go smoothly, but the strange thing was that after these few days, he had not yet contacted the members of the "Bamboo Record" under the master.

On the evening of September 13, Jun Wu saw a thin man in the mansion, this person was named Jiang Yuan, who was originally a middle-level member of the Huaxia Army here.

During the conversation with the other party, Jun Wu knew that the collapse of the Wu Dynasty was too fast and too urgent, in order to protect some people in it, Zhu Ji had also taken out the risk of exposing his identity in action, especially in this Jiangning War, the leader who was originally sent out by Ning Yi to be responsible for the situation in Lin'an, Ling Zhiguang had died, and at this time, another responsible candidate on the Jiangning side was also seriously injured and unconscious, and he didn't know if he could wake up at this time, and the rest of the personnel decided to meet with Junwu after contacting one after another.

Jun Wu nodded, and in the other party's seemingly simple statement, he could guess how much had happened.

“…… Originally, Mr. Ning issued a hoe order at the beginning of the year and sent us people in the hope of strengthening the will of the Wu Dynasty to resist Jin, but now it seems that we have failed to fulfill our responsibilities, but have been taken advantage of by Wanyan Xiyin and others......"

In Jiang Yuan's words, Jun Wu waved his hand: "It's none of your business, your dispatch at the beginning of the year, the dispatch of the old hero of Fulu, helped us a lot, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted, which is not a lie." It's just that you have to work together to make things happen, and there are only a few rats for bad things, and the Wu Dynasty itself is lost, so it's no wonder you. ”

"Your Majesty is reasonable, and the blessing of the Wu Dynasty." That Jiang Yuan was expressionless and thanked him.

“…… You, Mr. Xi Nanning, have taught me many things earlier, and now ...... I'm about to ascend the throne, and there's a lot to talk about, and I've just sent someone to fetch medicine, and I don't know how many of you are here, and if there's anything else you need help with, you can ask. I know that you have sent many people out, and if you need food, we still have some ......."

“…… Enough to eat. Jiang Yuan arched his hand, his eyes trembling, "There are not many people left." ”

His words were short and cruel, Jun Wu opened his mouth, but he couldn't speak, but he saw that Jiang Yuanqiang, who was originally expressionless, smiled and explained, "Actually...... Most of them had gone to Changsha at the end of May to prepare for battle, and the two groups of men who remained here to support His Majesty's actions...... Enough to eat. ”

Jun Wu nodded, at the end of May, the Wu Dynasty had seen a decline, and the whole line began to collapse in June, and then Chen Fanqi attacked Changsha, and the Huaxia army was ready for a full-scale war with the Jurchens. He made an appointment to meet with the people of Huaxia Army, and originally had some hope in his heart, hoping that the teacher would leave some backhands here, maybe he didn't need to choose to leave Jiangning, there were other ways to go...... But at this time, Jun Wu's fists pressed tightly on his knees, suppressing the thought of opening.

The depression in my heart has been unraveled a lot.

When the world is overturned, who can have more than that? The Chinese soldier in front of him, the teacher in the southwest, and which man didn't come over in the Jedi?

"I ascended the throne at fifteen...... But Jiangning has become a place of death, I will work with General Yue and them to block the Jurchens and try to evacuate all the people in the city, you help too much, and when the time comes...... Please try to take care, if you can, I will arrange for you to leave by car and boat, do not refuse. ”

On September 15, Jun Wu ascended the throne as emperor in Jiangning City, and the year name was "Revitalization".

The new monarch succeeded to the throne, and the city of Jiangning was crowded with people, and the lanterns were like dragons. Jun Wu sat on the dragon chariot and passed through the street he was already familiar with, looking at the crowd cheering on the side of the road, reaching out and grabbing the dragon robe......

At the same time, between the large and small cities near Changsha, the first round of fighting has already been bloody.