Lin Fan followed Chen Fangshu to the city, and in front of him was a large pit dug up, and the pit was full of corpses.

Among them were the sergeants and young men who had died on the walls; There were also wounded soldiers who did not survive and died of their wounds; Even the corpses of the thieves left on the walls; It adds up to hundreds.

Before Lin Fan came, Wang Hu had been staying here, and he had suffered a lot of injuries from many days of fighting, and this honest man like an iron tower was squatting on the ground at this time, crying silently at the corpse of his brother who died in battle.

Lin Fan patted him on the shoulder and didn't say anything. Then he stepped up to one of the scribes and asked, "Have you remembered the names and places of origin of the brothers who died in battle?" ”

The scribe hurriedly replied: "Don't worry, my lord, it's all recorded!" ”

"This roster is about the bereavement of the brothers, and it should not be taken lightly. Regardless of whether they were soldiers registered in the imperial court or just young men who were temporarily recruited to defend the city, even if they were refugees, they all died for the imperial court. ”

"I don't want my brothers to be a bunch of nameless ghosts when they die, and I can't let them still be in the world, and they won't even get that little pitiful pension."

"So this roster can't go wrong no matter what, you must keep it, even if we fail to defend it in the end and the city falls, you must keep it, and the aftermath of so many brothers depends on you!" Lin Fan said solemnly.

Since this roster is so important, why didn't Lin Fan take care of it himself, but instead handed it over to the scribe?

No one asked him this question, but Lin Fan himself knew the answer, because by the day the city fell, he would definitely be dead.

"Don't worry, as long as I am alive, I will definitely protect this roster, and even if I die, I will put it in a safe place before I die, and I will never let the blood of my brothers be shed in vain." The scribe replied.

"I'm here to thank my brothers!" Lin Fan thanked the scribe.

While they were talking, a layer of kerosene had been poured into the pit, and a lot of wood, straw and other flammable materials had been put in.

Several of them had already lit their torches and were ready to throw them into the pit. And judging from the black traces that have burned on the edge of the pit, it is obvious that this is not the first time that this has happened today.

Lin Fan stopped talking, he took a torch from Chen Fangshu's hand and threw it in.

Seeing this, the others threw their torches into it, and soon the pit began to burn, billowing black smoke. And beneath the black smoke was the surging red flame.

In the dark night, the gushing firelight reflected Lin Fan's figure. He stood there quietly, staring at the firelight, looking a little sad.

Cremation of corpses is a last resort, if there is a choice, Lin Fan is more willing to let these people into the ground.

But now they have to do this, first, there is really no place to store so many corpses, and second, now that the heat is in full swing, if these corpses are left unchecked, it will only take a day or two to decompose. It's okay to say that the corpse smells, and the forbearance is over, but so many rotting corpses are very easy to breed plague.

Needless to say, the plague was terrible, and everyone from the government to the common people was afraid of it like a tiger, lest they avoid it. This kind of thing, even if you just think about it secretly in your heart, can make people's faces turn pale with fright.

For thousands of years, plagues have been raging, and there is nothing the world can do. Once infected, the deceased will not be able to return to heaven, no matter how clever the doctor is. Moreover, the epidemic spreads very quickly, spreading from one to the next, and as long as one person in one place is sick, it is possible that the whole city will die in just a few days.

From ancient times to the present, plagues have tormented the world like maggots attached to the bones, like a sharp sword hanging over everyone's head, which can be cut down at any time. This fear has been passed down from generation to generation, for a long time

Rooted in the deepest part of people's hearts.

The records of plagues have been written in books throughout the dynasties, and a plague recorded at random in the history books may only be written with a few crosses, but each epidemic takes hundreds of thousands of lives, far more than the number of people who died in a great war.

Therefore, if there is really an epidemic, not many people, whether it is the people in the city or the thieves outside the city, will survive. Not only will Yongyang City become a dead city, but maybe half of Huainan Province will be affected.

No one dares to take this kind of thing lightly, or it is a joke about the people of the city and their own lives. In order to prevent a real epidemic from happening, cremation of corpses has become Lin Fan's only choice.

Battles were going on every day, and the thieves were attacking continuously, and with each siege, many people lost their lives on both sides, so that this kind of thing happened here almost every day.

When the fire broke out, the heat on the faces and the smell of grease from the burning corpses made everyone unable to stand and retreated.

On such a hot day, it is indeed not easy to stay by the fire all the time, and even more so to watch the people who are still killing enemies together during the day turn to ashes little by little.

Lin Fan saw that everyone was unbearable, so he said: "Everyone go back and rest, take care of your spirits, there will be a war tomorrow, just leave it to me to watch!" ”

Since Lin Fan said so, everyone was relieved and retired one after another.

Why Lin Fan stayed at the end, everyone was not surprised, because it had been the case for all this time, every time he stayed here alone, silently guarding there, and would not leave until the flames inside were extinguished.

Although everyone couldn't bear it, they also persuaded him in the first two days, but Lin Fan insisted on it, so they didn't say anything anymore.

Soon, there were only two people left, Lin Fan and Chen Fangshu, who looked at the increasingly strong fire and were speechless.

"Fang Shu, how many days is it today?" When the fire was about to end, Lin Fan looked at the fire and suddenly asked.

"What?" Chen Fangshu was stunned for a moment, and then understood that he was asking him if he had been guarding for a few days, but the adults had been staying in the city these days, so they should know!

Hiding his confusion, he still replied truthfully: "My lord, from the day the enemy began to attack the city, today is already the ninth day. When it gets daybreak, it's the tenth day! ”

"Ten days? It's a bit of a tough time! Lin Fan muttered to himself.

Lin Fan thought of An Ning again at this time, he should have found reinforcements at this time! Even if he doesn't, I hope he's safe.

"Fang Shu, if I die in battle, and the reinforcements haven't arrived, you can lead everyone to surrender!" Lin Fan said to Chen Fangshu.

Chen Fangshu was shocked: "Why did my lord say this!" ”

"Fang Shu, don't get excited, listen to me." Lin Fan reassured him

"It's just the two of us here, and I won't say those nice and inspiring words. You and I both know the current situation in our hearts, if reinforcements don't arrive, we won't be able to hold on for long. ”

"Now the defenders in the city have suffered more than half of the casualties, and the most elite inspection department is even more out of ten, and the young defenders of the city who are temporarily recruited are only pulled to the city after a little training, and the combat strength is insufficient, and there are more than 600 casualties. Now the remaining people want to defend Yongyang City, how difficult it is! ”

Chen Fangshu tearfully persuaded: "My lord, we have been guarding for ten days, as long as we hold for another day or two, even if the reinforcements climb, they should crawl over, right?" When the time comes, the crisis will be solved, and the adults have persevered so far, and now they are at the last moment, and they must not be shaken! ”

Lin Fan shook his head, but he didn't turn around, he still turned his back to Chen Fangshu and said, "I never wavered, but yesterday."

Lord Yang told me that the food in the city will last for two more days at most, that is, after tomorrow, the city will run out of food. Without food, there is no way to defend the city, when hungry, people are unreasonable, and when the time comes, the first to open the city to meet the thief army is the hungry people. ”

"Running out of food? How did I not know? Chen Fangshu said in surprise. How terrible the hungry people were, he had seen it when he was in Chenjiazhai.

Lin Fan said: "At present, except for the officials in charge of the granary, only Yang Yuanwang and Lord Yang know about this matter. You also know that once this matter spreads, it will be a big chaos, and I'm afraid that we won't be able to defend this Yongyang City without waiting for the thief army to attack. That's why I told you today, don't spread it yet, and after I die, I won't be able to control it, so it's up to you at that time! ”

"My subordinates are not afraid of death, and I am willing to follow the adults to live and die together!" Chen Fangshu said with a crying voice.

"I know you're not afraid of death, but so many people have died, and you've been guarding it for so long, we've done our duty, it's enough for me to die alone, so don't bother everyone to bury me!"

"What you have to do is to hold on to the last moment before I die, and it should be my last wish!"

"As for after I die, as long as you hand over my body to the thief army, you have a channel to vent your anger, I think they won't slaughter the city, Yongyang is a small city, and it has been besieged for so many days, and there is nothing to plunder."

"In the future, when the imperial court comes back, Yongyang will surrender because there are no reinforcements and the food is exhausted, and the imperial court will not blame you. When the world is settled, you can go back to Chenjiazhai to celebrate your birthday! Lin Fan comforted him.

"Home? That's a good thing to say, because you, in order to defend this broken city, so many people died in my Chenjiazhai, and now you let us go home? ”

"I can go back, but how are the dead going to go back? Did so many people die in vain? What are we doing all these days for? Bastard, you say? Chen Fangshu was extremely angry, came to Lin Fan, grabbed his collar with his left hand, and lifted his right hand over Lin Fan's head, making a gesture to fight.

Suddenly, he froze.

He saw two tear stains on Lin Fan's face, and there were still tears flowing along the tear stains at this time.

"It's... This! This was the first time he had seen Lin Fan cry, which made him a little hurried.

"I'm sorry! I... I... I just don't want to be such a senseless dead person anymore! Lin Fan squatted on the ground, hiding his face and crying.

Chen Fangshu remembered at this time that the person in front of him was only nineteen years old this year, and he was only twenty-one years old when he counted the virtual age, five or six years younger than himself.

This person's actions always make people ignore his age, and it is at this time that people can remember that he is still just a child.

Such a heavy burden should not be pressed on such immature shoulders, but he picked it up without hesitation, and everyone else took it for granted that this burden should also be carried by him.

Chen Fangshu sighed and looked around, he silently guarded here, not letting others approach. He just wanted this child, who had taken on too many things, to cry here for a while.

Lin Fan's collapse came and went quickly, he quickly cleaned up his emotions, and said to Chen Fangshu gratefully: "Thank you!" ”

Then he dusted off his clothes, smoothed out his wrinkles, and pretended to smile easily: "What I told you just now is just the worst plan, you just need to keep it in mind, remember not to tell others, otherwise the morale of the people will be finished immediately, then I will really die if I don't die!" ”

Chen Fangshu nodded, indicating that he understood.

Lin Fan saw that Chen Fangshu's mood was still a little difficult to calm down at this time, so he smiled and said: "Don't worry, there is still time, I have a hunch that reinforcements will definitely come!" Cheer up, there will be a war tomorrow! ”